It can be done, but only under very specific conditions.On the bright side, Fannie/Freddie are chilling out their debt:income guidelines by the end of this month, so while their credit and down payment requirements will still be a bit stricter than FHA, they'll be much similar to FHA regarding your debt to income ratios.Hope that helps, this is all coming from a guy in similar shoes, bought my first place last year temporarily owner-occupied, with my sights set on #2 by June 1 of next year.

I have been in similar shoes to yours and wish someone told me to follow my passions.

That said, I am very excited to embark upon this journey and I will not hesitate to pounce on the right opportunity.So if you were in my shoes, what would your next step be?

Hopefully I can provide some insight and background into it for others who are in similar shoes as me when figuring out whether to pull the trigger.

Hello Katherine,It's amazing hearing your story and seeing someone in my shoes do what I'm trying to do.

Thank you so much Rob Padilla for that post because I am in your shoes.

I was in your shoes just a year ago when I decided to purchase a rental property in The Colony..I would highly recommend listening to all of the podcasts to get started.

But also cut your cost by buying 1/4" inch or smaller shoe molding  and use it where the tread meets the riser in stead of a cove metal.

You're not alone in feeling like you're stuck in the Bay Area, there are dozens of other investors in your same shoes and they've found Sacramento to be a great semi-local option due to the reasons mentioned in my posts above. 

This would allow you to pay yourself back on the HELOC from the generated income allowing you to increase the values of the current homes without putting your personal assets/liquid cash at risk.I hope this helps and that's 100% the route I would take if I were in your shoes.