I generally recommend six (6) months or more - the longer the better - if refinancing before the 1031 Exchange, and two (2) or three (3) months if refinancing after the 1031 Exchange.

You have found an excellent on-line resource for learning and building some great relationships.

They know that market really well and can probably help you find a good deal on your owner occ. as well as some investment properties.I'm sure they'll be online to intro themselves shortly.Good luck!

Very Cool @Mark Updegraff Are refinancing products easily available in your market?

So my point is that I think I can really get clear about the "reputation" of a builder and a neighborhood in a most likely stronger way than if I were just searching online and such.

Hey Matt,Welcome to the best online resource for real estate investing that you will ever come across!

So I did as much research as i could online and found that all the cheap properties were in pretty rough neighborhoods and the local economy did not seem to support flipping in any significant volume.I then looked into Memphis TN, again all properties under 40k were in rough neighborhoods.I'm now leaning towards San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, or HoustonThe only problem with them is finding a house under 40k for us to live in, I did find a few Manufactured homes in the country close to Dallas and some a little over a hour north of Houston, I would be fine living in one of the manufactured homes close to Dallas for quite some time, my only issue is tying up most of my free cash in a house that i cannot refi to free up the cash again.Thanks for taking the time to read my rather long post and i look forward to hearing your suggestions!

Just make sure the total cash flow increases after investing the refinanced money.Property 1 was cashflowing +250, after refinancing starts losing 50 a month, if the new property cash flows +500, your new total cash flow is now +400, almost double than before, I would do this any time.Also, its preferable that you buy properties that cash flow or at least break even with 100% financing, that is now one of my parameters on my investments, it forces you to be patient and wait for the best deal possible, it makes the investment safer even if something goes wrong.

They do all of the online advertising on the major sites.

What I usuall do is go on line and request a listing of recently sold homes in the zip code I'm interested in from Zillow and Trulia this usually gives me an idea.