(Side Note: if you really want to jump your credit score in a few months (because it takes time for the reporting to update), and if your disciplined with your spending try this;1st) I went and did the math to see what my positive cash flow each month off my active income (let’s say you’ve got $500 left over after you go through your monthly spending avg. which is all you kick out vs what you bring in)2nd) Go get a credit card with 0% interest for 12mths with NO higher than 5% transfer fee.( their are some with low as a 0% transfer and I had got that one on my 2nd round cause my credit wouldn’t let me at first)3rd) do a transfer balance after 24- 48hrs of opening the card (Nope you don’t need wait to actually get the card just call in and tell them over the phone to send a Blanche transfer check to your bank account in the amount of your car Balance; because you’ve only got a 30day window of transfer with 0% interest for the 12mths)4th) PAY YOUR CAR OFF IN FULL, and take your old car note (let’s says it $450mth) plus your $500 positive cash each month and add all $950 each month to pay against the balance on the card5th) in 45days start checking your CreditKarma app (its free) and don’t worry about the 5% if it’s larger than your car loan % because once you’ve paid your car off your score will go up and in a couple months of $950 your car will be paid OFF not in 2more years or so...Thus saving you probably more than $2,000 in interest on the car loan (so you get to keep $$) and time in payments.Your saving money on interest (keeping it in your pocket thus making your pocket bigger!

Also, please go visit the area(s) your serious interested in... small price to pay against a much larger investment.Let me know if you have questions/help, I'm one of many (like you) who's gone out of state because it's crazy here..

If this is the only property that you will ever buy to rent it out, you will have to observe it without tapping into the cash flow for the next two years.

And depending on how many homes you need to get title you could consider hiring a company that specializes in getting titles...they will do it faster than you or I ever will.

If you're ever up in Tokyo and would like to talk real estate, please feel free to drop me a line.  

Hi Mike,Did you ever get your refinancing completed?  

I'm reasonably successful at it, I would say.I spend a lot of money on Amazon but the most I ever spent for someone to tell me what to do in this business was $150 for a very popular three-day seminar.

Try a couple larger regional banks that lends in your area.

For larger repairs you can DIY and save tremendously.

Let me check on this with a developer.Hi, Mindy - did you ever get an answer to this?