All I could think about was how we had a house with an $800 mortgage and we could have rented that thing out for 3k and probably cleared about $1,900/month in positive cash flow after expenses.

I'm 37, and hoping to get into these houses for long term equity gains and eventual cash flow on new purchases.  

This is a great way to build sweat equity and build long-term wealth.

My primary goal is to net zero with house hacking, renovate to appreciate, and refinance after a year, pulling built renovation/sweat equity.

We are seeing signs of higher demand even though rates remain high, months of inventory decreasing, multiple offers becoming very common again, and consumer confidence increasing.We are expecting these trends to continue as the news headlines continue to shift and report much more positive market conditions.

Seems to be a shortage of positive cash flow properties available on the local MLS here in central Ohio.

I'm a software engineer diving into the real estate world, currently working as a software engineer at a real estate company (just a coincidence), in my position as a software engineer I'm doing a lot of cool AI stuff, that gives me the ability to build and create tools for myself to find deals (maybe will share about it later).Currently, I've got one property in Toledo, Ohio, that's currently rented, and I just bought a new one in Cleveland.I'm here to soak up knowledge, connect with folks from all corners of the globe, and share what I can.

That was our first experience in utilizing private equity.

You wouldn't put 20% down deals like this, but typically it's a common practice to put some cash in seller's hand depending on how much equity the seller already has.

In order to not have to put any of our own money into this deal, we intend to leverage the equity of my Grandma's home as a down payment for the loan.2) Should we leverage a construction loan or some other form of financing?