Always thinking ahead and never going all in without having some breathing room.

I make sure that my renters know that I am the owner and that I will be at the house every three months to change the air filters and any other maintaince jobs.

The thought is that I could buy the house at her current mortgage rate and then rent the house back to her at a discount for a couple years so that she has a little more financial breathing room.

Zillow ResearchOnce you apply all the elimination filters to the initial list of cities, you will have only a few remaining for additional consideration.Another important consideration when selecting a city is whether you can find an experienced investment team in the area that interests you.

@Ben Swartz,I second what Account Closed said above...You can speak with some different types of lenders, e.g. hard money lenders and banks.You can search for hard money lenders on BiggerPockets by using the 'Network' tab and filtering by state.You can also speak with some local banks about your situation to see if they would be willing to finance the rehab.Best of luck,Michael

@Jennifer LindstromYour list of prospective lenders significantly declines when you say short term rental and mixed use in the same breath. 

Obviously this is a lot more work and somewhat of a last resort, but gives you some options and breathing room if the other strategies don't work out.   

Get your counties tax sale list preferably in excel so that you can sort and filter unwanted properties and locations.I sort mine by tax map ID so I can tell what general area I am looking in.Look at the data online and the google street view to eliminate unwanted properties, then drive by anything you intend to bid on.I don't bid on anything I haven't seen with my own eyes.

Will keep in mind the details I need to do a filter so time isn’t wasted.Thanks John!

This will allow them to breathe easier and perhaps even invite you in.