My step-sister who I am very close with started getting into real estate in the past year or so and after some talks with her about RE and life in general she put me onto Bigger Pockets. 

Ya know I was raised there In Cupertino and Palo Alto.. the land of 50 to 60 years ranch houses on little 5 to 7k sq ft lots selling for 2 to 4 million in todays. market.but back in 1979 is when homes got to 100k in Cupertino we all thought ( I was a 23 YO broker at that time) there is NO way they could go higher.. and when I bought my second home in my life in Palo Alto for 185k in 1984  a 3 and 1 900 sq ft home.. but nice landscaping lot was 50X 100  and then sold It in 91 for just under 500k..

They are allowing the contractors in to make quotes so at least they are cooperating in that regard.Thanks for the adviceRoy It sounds like you bought the property in this condition, in which case it should have been priced accordingly.

I GC´d the repair and reno of our burnt out husk, and the insurance saw fit to put $130,000 into our house.So we get moved back in, lifes good.

House hacking the VA loan financed triplex/4-plex is a good strategy but keep in mind that VA loan will require the property to be in relatively good condition.

I did learn a lot in the process by myself, I wish I should have known this forum would have made my life easier.

I currently work as a project manager for a general contracting company and have been involved with construction my whole life (my dad is a small construction GC himself).

@Shane H.I would atleast run comp sales In the neIghborhood Id look up the tax assessment and run some analysis on its condition compared to others in the area .

Sick life for Annie to rebound from screwing tons and tons of people and become an "expert" in something she can't do on her own.

If you have a $100,000 loan at 3.75% and that goes up to 5.25% but your able to get another 50-100k out the additional cost on your current loan is only $1500 per year which is a small price to pay to go create some other opportunity that over the life of that second investment can yield you $50,000-$150,000.My biz partner told me years back, "Don't step over quarters to pick up pennies", which to me most of the time translates to calculate the money you are not making by taking that next step vs the money you are trying to save.