Currently, you don't know what you don't know, so it might take some time to work out your deal criteria and market research...For instance, looking for a cash on cash return of 10% is a good goal, but what about appreciation, hold periods, unit type, unit class etc...how does the 10% COC tie into you personal goals for investing?

You would buy the home with 10% using hard money, improve it and refinance the existing lien using the new appraised value( will the lender allows using the new value on a R/T refi without a waiting period).  

Some lenders have a seasoning period and some do not. 

Would you have a structural engineer / contractor check this out during the inspection period?

@Scott Pillsbury your purchase contract should have a "Third Party Financing Addendum" that states your time period to get approved.  

As we learned in accounting, the tradeoffs are just that, FIFO is great for deflationary periods but terrible for inflationary periods.

-I’d consider using a move in/move out checklist to ensure no damages were done and a periodic walk through-keep good records for expenses and rental income/find a good application for this-read Brandon Turners book on managing rental properties and Craig Curelops house hacking strategies-they both rockGood luck and feel free to DM me with any questions!

Is it lack of seasoning period or something else?

Hey @Steve Tse, So you really want to make sure you look at the term (on a loan this is the time periods) in the HELOC.

So, you need to look at every property even if the numbers first appear to bad and then stretch out the numbers with rent increases, appreciation that results from rent increases and do your numbers over a 5, 10, 20 and 30 year period.