The goal is to buy land while cheap(er) and sit on it for a year or two while I raise capital to build and hold a fourplex.I don’t have an established relationship with any lender there and am shopping around.

Legals mate,Goes into company operating account and not title company.So in a way it isn't a "Deposit".Plus, would never hold onto it and would always refund as we aren't in the biz of "stealing" deposits per se.It's just a sign of good faith that an investor is willing to put their money where their mouth is and the verbiage also specifies this clearly.If they trust us and are going to purchase a turnkey property from us for $80,000 in cash for example, then there should be no hesitance in paying a $5,000 refundable deposit either.Who bulks at this, isn't serious and hasn't done enough research on our market, company and operation so it's a "no fit".Introduced this a while ago as a protection method to not waste time on calls, deal presentation, company resources, etc... only for someone to go MIA and steal all the inside knowledge they gained from us.

They're likely leveling out, but time will tell.But in your situation, since you won't be cash flowing I'm not sure I see the upside of holding onto the house.

Instead they are holding the property until the very last minute when the lender takes the asset.

My fish keep piling up, and I don’t even need my fishing pole anymore.Each piece of real estate I’ve invested in generates income on my behalf and contributes to my freedom number.As long as I hold the real estate, it continues to generate income each month.

I will explain: What you can do in your situation given the #'s is a little game I like to play of Segregation of Monies.

This trend holds true for Lexington the city as well too though.

No matter what, if this is your first investment property deal, you will have to have some "skin in the game" with anywhere from a 10% to 25% down payment, plus closing costs and required reserves.

Side question, assuming that you have a pretty strong income from work, would you hold your commercial real estate as long as you can and to by another on top of the existing one or would you 1031 to a bigger commercial real estate instead?

I have tried to keep a policy on here of holding comments until I have given our customer the chance to speak with me directly as long as I can verify their comments and point of view are not contrary to the facts.