My goal is to continue to grow my book of clients that will afford me the income to invest in real estate. 

If you can afford a higher mortgage payment on your live in property, you can also pull equity out of that, but I would leave it alone. 

I'd encourage ANYONE to use this resource, it's inexhaustible, thanks to all the folks out there who've "been there, done that, and GOT THE T-SHIRT" to prove it!

Then I was told t that the property could not be closed because the foreclosure deed had not been recorded.

But, for this particular deal, I believe it would behoove me the best to get into something that is cash flowing better, so it can afford me the time to get into more rehabs / flips.Bob B, you make a good point.

If the cure for affordability is a real estate crash (which I can't see in the cards), we might regret the impact also.

(BTW, the owner is completely broke to the point where he had all utilities in the home turned off at least for the past year bc he cannot afford to pay them.

Do you think this would help at all if it was affordable.

i guess the biggest question is can you afford the payment if the other units are unrented for a few months?

Not only will most sellers require that your financing/proof of funds be in order first before entertaining any sort of offer, but you also want to know how much home you can afford based on your income.