@Brett Lofendo when you start looking at house hacking in the more expensive areas, you can do it but you won't see massive cash flow with 5% down.

If you are looking to refinance into a conventional with a cash-out refi you will need to wait 1 year.

It needs roof, ac, electrical, possibly plumbing, new bathroom, new kitchen, flooring repair, siding and fascia repair, and on top of that there is some fire damage.

I'll still have cash to make a down payment for a new townhouse which is around 380k post the closing of the above SFR.

By "partial" I mean renovating the kitchen and bathroom, painting the place, re-tiling the floor and maybe adding some smaller features that can make a difference to prospective buyers, such as new A/C units, new internal doors, or maybe even sell the place furnished (home staging is not really an option here); with no or minimal demolition, and hopefully without electricity or plumbing issues.

People pay cash for jobs all the time.  

The cost of living is extremely low compared to other cities and you can still many many positive cash flowing and 1% deals here.

Evaluate prope­rties carefully - cash flow, cap rates, de­mand.

A bit on my self I have 3 singles in Dallas Forth-Worth area & 1 single Tampa area I sold 2 flips in Austin, TXIn DFW, I’m doing section 8 , I am getting properties with hard money loan , remodel them, and then re fi them for 30 years , I put around 45-65K for each property I have 4 properties total that cash flowing $300, $500, $1000 (section 8) , $250 per month after all taxes, expenses , insurances , mortgages .. 

Purchase price: $846,000 Cash invested: $860,000 STR - MID TERM RENTAL What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?