On the positive side, I feel that if I can buy this thing whole and stick with it for a year or so (renovating along the way), I will have a solid foundation for a real estate career.

My client secured their contract position with a $1000 deposit.

If you need any guidance at all on how to put you and your agent in a better position to hear back from the sellers in a more timely fashion let me know.

I started a journey back in 2015 towards financial freedom with a goal of acquiring 50 units in 3 years time, and yesterday I was able to acquire a 19 unit value add apartment building in Berwyn with my partner @Scott Skinger With the 19 unit acquisition, I have gone from 0 to 52 units in just over 3 years time.Not only have I reached my personal goal of topping 50 units, but I also get an opportunity to re position a desirable asset in a growing neighborhood.

I've read mostly positive things about using a HELOC to invest in income-producing properties, although I've also read that it's a good idea to hang onto it for emergencies. 

Depending on your payment and what the rooms would rent for you could be cash flow positive every month.

@Skyler Southern if you want to grow, I'd go with the lowest down payment possible where you are still cash flow positive, after ALL expenses.

I didn't begrudge folks who were in a better financial position than me for driving up RE costs.

So for January, while we might only have $20k from rental income and a $55k property tax bill, we were still cash flow positive because we used the reserves to pay for the property tax.

Think the government is hoping the investors will be a net positive to the economy and help with the recover... time will tell if that works or not.