This is not as intriguing to me because the ROI is much lower.

Hard money lenders charge higher interest, but it is usually anywhere from 9-13%, so it would STILL be lower than the option you chose this time. 

LOL.. and those folks don't post on BP.. on BP its all blue sky rentals are the way to financial freedom quit your day job.. live the life you deserve etc etc.. well for some for sure.. for many NOPE.. they are like why did I do that.. and they exit no matter the loss.now this is more prevelant in the lower value asset markets.. not all markets are like this.But I look at when I started hard money lending in 01 for turn key and I started in Detroit.. the homes there appraised at that time for 120 to 140 each rented for what they rent for today 800 to 900 in those days the .05% rule was fine.. we loan 80k as a HML .. well those homes tanked as you probably know many went down to less than 10k in value.. thankfully the 200 plus I did there I got refinanced out of them all. but you know long term lender lost their lunch and so did most of the investors in those days.I am not prediciting another major meltdown.. but even  break even is not a good position to be in with rental properties in my humble opinion the risk/reward and hassle factor just weights on you.. but I know I am in the VAST minority in my thinking.So my thought is you really need to get these things paid for and keep them forever.. but life happens and I would say 80% of people that have that thought process going in never make it past about 7 or 8 years.

I think house-hacking a 2-3 unit property is a great way to gain acquisition experience, property management experience, lower your monthly living expenses AND possibly even live for free.Your next step should be to find a local investor-friendly realtor to discuss your goals.You'll then need to get pre-approved by a lender so that you know exactly which areas you can target.After you get that first deal, you can refinance after a year or 2, and move onto the next!

I like the idea of basing my offer relative the worst case scenario, might not close as many as if I were to go higher, but as a beginner I probably need to keep in mind “the fewer I close, probably the more profitable each individual one will be” (the lower my offers are, the lower my close ratio will be).And probably a better place to start, than as if I knew what I was doing. :)Thank you both for your wisdom.Cameron

I can get you much lower for the second year.

Find a double lot, split it and have a lower cost basis each home?   

The goal would be to maintain the curb appeal / authentic look, but at a much lower replacement cost.Thus, I'm looking to find an insurance agent / receive quotes that understand this dynamic.

LOTS Of fake lenders work BP  face book linkdin etc.if you cant find anything on them I suspect you may have run into a fake.the telling clue will be1. rates too good to really be true or lower than industry norm2. too quick to approve you..3. they want a modest deposit up front and give some BS reason why the want it.4. no website ( although many fraudsters have generic websites website alone does not mean anything.5. check on licensing.. there are only about 12 states that require licesnes. not sure about our state thoughBut I would say 95% if you cant find anything on them.. and any of the things I said above are what they are telling you,, cheap rates small up front deposit.. probably not real and you will just lose your 500.00 bucks or whateverOh the other great one is you have to buy an insurance policy because your new or a little weak on the financial side.. there are NO insurance policies for private loans if you fail to pay.. that's just another fraudulent payment to a non exisitant entity.real estate lending has become the new Nigerian prince scam..

HELOCs do have significantly lower closing costs but if you use one for the down payment, you will need to have a method of paying it back relatively quickly.