Fourth, if you live in the property for a year, you have a decent shot at being left in the enviable position of having three fantastic options: - To continue living in the property and letting other people (your tenants) fund your living costs - To sell the property - To rent the property out entirely as a rentalThe downside is that you will have more complicated taxes (part of the interest and expenses will be attributed to a rental property, and part will be taken as a standard homeowner deduction), and that you probably won't be able to benefit from an LLC - it will be difficult to preserve the corporate veil as an owner occupier. 

They can be complicated and you absolutely MUST have a qualified intermediary in place before you execute any transactions - for a number of reasons.

I have'nt used a GC because outside of the electrical and plumbing most of the repairs are cosmetic and more importantly my fiance has the DIY spirit so if its not too complicated we will give it a shot.

Depending on the size of the project, it can get very complicated.

But lessons don't need to be complicated in order to be effective.  

UGH.Deanna yes the interest calculation can be complicated. 

Could get pretty complicated and you'd need to find partners you trust.

I have a pretty complicated story as to why I started but in short I began working for an accounting firm and I realized everyone with significant wealth had one thing in common,  they all invested in real estate !  

The foreseeable problems with any of these 3 options, as opposed to purchasing with straight cash are:  1) the seller might not want two people coming through, bothering tenants 2) he might shudder at the sound of paperwork and complications from creative financing or institutional lending and back away entirely.  

These are risky and complicated investments, not something you just order up online.