If you're relying on overtime or bonus income for qualifying purposes, make sure you have at least 12 months under your belt to be considered stable.Private lenders and owner financing are going to resemble more hard money.

I reduced the price to 229k and am offering a $1,500 realtor bonus.  

Not to mention I never buy based on appreciation either, it’s just a bonus to me.My question is this...

I was reading a few sites this morning, regarding VA loans and how they work, especially when it comes to getting a loan for more than 1 property, if you have already used a VA loan to purchase a homeI fall in the Dollar amount ( $36,000 ) / Lender Amount ( $144,000 ) category ,so if I understand It correctly, they will cover $36,000 of that $144,000 , which leaves you with $108,000So could you in theory, purchase within 4 years, 4 homes, using the VA loan each time and living in each of those 4 homes for the 1 year O.O. rule, as Long as each of those 4 houses didn't appraise for more than $144,000 each ( $36,000 x 5 =  $144,000 )I'm trying to make sure, that before I consider going VA vs FHA , that I can purchase, hold for 1 year and then rent out up to 4 properties, as long as each doesn't appraise for more than that $144,000Thank you everyone, I really , really appreciate it

Ask what they see them selling for and what expenses are by category.

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for a definition of this and to see if you fall in this category check out the first 3 min of the following video.  

Each real life scenario you just named has its own respectable tax filing category.

Luxury condos and anything near ocean is hot in the winter by snowbirds and regular SFR and condos in the lower-end price categories, I'm sure are hot in the summer. 

With that defined, one can lay out a road-map to get there.I think it is helpful to separate REI activities into two categories; those that generate a one-time cash payment quickly with a lot of work on our part like wholesaling and flipping, and those that generate passive recurring revenue like rentals and notes.