Most carry back a 10%, 15% or 20% second for two to five years with a balloon.

Its always good to familiarize yourself with the tricks of the trade (because there are TONS) to not only protect yourself, but your investment.A few ways to get involved are:build a relationship with a developer.find ways to service what they need like:Offer Title Services at a discountOffer brokerage serviceStart a Retaining wall, fencing, irrigation companyif your an engineer offer to take a second look at some plansIf your an architect do the sameIf you are an attorney offer some advice on contractual obligationsIf your an analyst, draw out some cash flowsIf your an accountant, offer to help, create JE's Adjustments, filing, etc.If you have a knack for construction, get out to the sites and look around.If you are good public speaker, get in front of the County officials and pitch a project to the county.Look for the meetings in the county and attend a couple of hearings for development approvals...its public.If you are a banker, look at the deals, contact the developers in your area, go meet them, offer services. etc.Development is about getting out there and putting your ear to the ground.

I just don't understand how you can even get financing for a second property if you are still paying mortgage on the 1st.

Skippie, I'll second everything that monique said, with one additional proviso that you won't like and will ignore at your extreme peril!

The renovations you do plus hopefully a market increase over the two years you live there could give you a tidy sum in equity to do your second deal with.

The first floor tenant was paying next to nothing and the second floor tenant was also paying below the average and the utilities were covered by me.

Having always been told that property is among the safest investments, I thought it would be a good way to get a slice of investment pie without forking over a whole lot of cash on a second home.

just to follow up - the seller was taking no less than 295k and only conventional or cash.of course we didn't find this out until after second offer.

I'm hoping to do my second soon.

If you have lived at the property and done work on it yourself, paying $165 for clearing vines is something you can object too; however, if your locality actually FINES owners for unsightly conditions at their property - this cost may well be worth it....time to consider tasking the TENANT with yard maintenance.As a fee property manager, I hold a minimum $500 and max of $2,000 in my owner accounts - $500 is about the cost of replacing a hot water heater after hours.....second guessing your property manager about repairs WHEN THE RENTAL MARKET IS SOFT is like shooting yourself in the foot.