Stain is ~$40/bottle and sealer is $200/5 gal.Tile counter tops are really cheap to install.If you do exterior repair on soffit or fascia, always go back with hardie, less maintenance over time.Places like surplus warehouse will give you a 3% landlord discount on doors and windows (and they're already dirt cheap).Capex is important to keep track of but with so many alternative options to pay for the expense, I don't stress too much over it either.  

Lastly if we would be forced to lose the equity by taking the loan on the ARV, what's a good alternative option for financing the rehab separately from purchasing the house?

The alternate option I came up with was to remain in my primary residence and rent out the spare rooms to get more cash flow coming my way.

However, with family and kids (one toddler and one infant), it's unlikely to be of viable choice to us.

Some have 30-60 days to recover, some longer.You need to check either the laws of the state you are buying, or perhaps as an alternative you can check with either the appraisal district, the tax district, or the attorney representing the tax authority where you plan to live.  

More than half say that the few quality assets available are overvalued.I present the conclusions of the study, Trends in the Real Estate Market in Europe 2017, prepared by PwC and the Urban Land Institute:TRENDS OF THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN 2017The expectations of investors in the European real estate market in 2017 are marked by the lower availability of quality assets, lower economic growth and lower profitability:It remains a very attractive market thanks to the relationship between risk and profitability, but most respondents believe that last year's profit levels will not be reached.Investors believe that the impact of Brexit will be limited to the British real estate market and will not significantly affect investments in the rest of the EU:To the question of which alternative sectors can be attractive for investors, the most frequent answers are: Accommodation for students,hotels,nursing homes,shared service offices.Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain are the three most attractive European countries to invest.

I read the article, which was informative and well-written, but I didn't see anything to contradict the idea that, if you used a home equity line of credit secured by a personal residence to provide money for your investment activities, you have a choice.

In Cali appraisers have no choice but to defer back to older comps no matter how far they go back or how far they have to navigate away from the area.BTW, FYI, This is also a very pervasive challenge for folks who want to purchase a HUD MH on a private lot or parcel surrounded by other SFR's in the immediate area.

So, what's the new alternative?

This job taking up a lot of my time which i would rather be using to get me towards my goal of financial freedom of which real estate investing is my vehicle of choice!