Congrats on the acquisition

The acquisition cost in Houston is currently $1,500-3,000 (source: a handful of investors and myself).

Also you mentioned not paying taxes, but you said that the house was under contract approximately 8 months after acquisition so how did you avoid taxes?

I would like to target these communities to flip older homes and possible smaller apartment buildings. the areas also have great school districts and close proximity to parks.time frame: 1 home acquisition by year one, 3-4 by year 2 and enough to quit the day job by 5 years 10-15 rental units(?)

New Western Acquisitions is in the same boat. 

@Rick HugheyYes, the 401k may borrow for the acquisition of real estate, but no, it would not exactly be a HELOC.A 401k must use non-recourse financing and only a limited number of lenders do that.

@Inna Mitelman let's simplifyPurchase price = $100 (all cash)Rehab = $20 (all cash)ARV = $160After rehab, you get a loan for $120 (75% of $160) and you use those proceeds to repeat with another property.All the cash flows (including the debt service) are modeled pre-acquisition to ensure they meet your investment criteria.It's totally fine to get a loan for anywhere between $0 - $120...up to you on how slowly or quickly you want to repeat.

- my goal was to find a multi or even just duplex so that the rent would cover the mortgage so i could live essentially "rent free". even if i am not cash flowing from the property, my main concern for my first acquisition is simply to eliminate the cost of rent from my and my girlfriend's life. i feel like it would allow me to be much more flexible with what i do with my money.

That'll give you enough wiggle room in the reno budget to fix the place up and not go over $150k as the TOTAL acquisition cost which is purchase price + reno budget + contingency reserve + higher interest rate + 3.5% down payment. 

The acquisition of this quad will increase my DTI.