If they are flush with work at a certain time of the year, you are going to get the contractor's scraps as they hire out subs for everything and rarely check in on your job.

But their combined wealth does not hold a candle to most of my real estate investor clients who had a dream of escaping the life of waking up every morning to a 9-to-5 and contributing to their perfectly-allocated Roths and 401ks and HSAs.Just my two cents.

Or you could both do your own exchanges or combine the two and move forward with one exchange.  

Try to use a combination of  a subject two lease and and equity buy in.

As in most of these cases, it can work, but rarely does, needing a unique set of circumstances, and a unique, possibly extra motivated seller.  

Note that some banks may go to 85%, but that's rare, and doesn't change the overall story.Using a HELOC may over-leverage you.  

Even if we catch that rare no money down for you deal, we still need reserves and make ready money. 

Thus he finds himself in a bad loan, with houses nobody really wants, and a loan that no other bank would want to touch.The only nest-egg my dad has from all this is about $50,000 in equity from all properties combined.

So I created a bunch of cash flow to free me from my job - through a combination of W2 supporting RE, until I could break free.

Doomsayers rarely put their money where their mouth is, but instead sell fear and book.