Anyone make their buyers sign something before they release any info to ensure you can hold them accountable? 

I put too much into renovations because of the classic found a bad contractor story, so had to get another contractor out, and after 9 months holding cost and about $60K in repairs, $3K in appliances, I got the place rented. ( I also refinanced and was able to get about 133K out, which I paid off my HELOC and credit cards I used to pay for all the renovations and PP). 

Or hold the house and rent it out?

@Samuel Metcalf- sorry ...getting  heloc on the rental duplex  will be hard / impossible to obtain ....if you can  get one - it would be a great option to use for the  remodel / landscape ....if you have  50K equity in your primary -you likely dont have  ample equity position to get a HELOC  on it as the max  comboned loan to value for helc lenders is  85%  ( maybe  90% ) ...I would try getting helocs on both to see whats possible ...if no heloc is possible - use the cash on hand for the purchase down payment / closing costs / loan fee/ prepaids and then use future accumulated savings for landscaping 

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

My question is can I secure a deposit/holding fee from them 2 months out to hold the property for them. 

I’ve decided I want to start out with small multi family properties and use either a buy and hold strategy or the BRRRR strategy, depending on the time investments.I love engineering, I’ve been working as a full time engineer for 8 months now about.

I have 16 years of buy-and-hold experience and would be happy to share my experience with you.

In order to do a 1031 exchange you must have purchased the property with the intent of holding for productive use. 

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.