We are debt free with $16,000 and currently do not live in a home now, but are willing to do a live-in rental property.

I currently have no debt under my name, thanks to reading rich dad poor dad, and am set to live off of Real Estate Investing.

Yes, get that 2nd job - and focus on paying down some debt and putting away some savings - not very exciting.... but necessary.

I wanted to understand if any kind of debt (conventional mortgage, HELOC, cash-out refi)  on the house will be considered as COST that I spend money on rental property and they will provide me tax saving, compare to having paid-off house, in the same degree/amount. 

I repeat, DO NOT DEBT FINANCE YOUR FIRST REHAB.

Pay off as much of your debt as you can, particularly high interest debt.

Originally posted by @William Moya:@Jay Hinrichs I like that opinion Thanks Well I just noticed your NMLS # so assuming since your registered there you also have a state lenders license and fully understand debt obligations and how they work.. so this would of course be a slam dunker for you. 

Purchase Price: $369,000Rehab costs to date (Cash/0% Credit card): $22,000Additional cosmetic rehabs: $6-8kAs-Is Appraisal: $420,000 (April 2021)Current Rental Income (friend living with me): $800Mortgage: $2000Comps in the area: $490-560K but average sqft price $264 with prop size of 2450 sqft, so could be more.Rentals in the area: $2.5-2.9K a month, not including additional living space.My financing/current capital methods:Personal Income: $129,000 a year.Rental Income from above: $800Student loans: $340 a month.No other debts other than CC payments for rehab and personal debts: $12,000.Savings (does not include investment accounts, 401k or IRA): $12,000Cumulative CC Limits: over $50k.My questions include:What are my best options to get this thing to cash flow while adding as much value as possible for a refinance (pay off CC and have cash for another off market property I have in the wings).

Purchase Price: $369,000Rehab costs to date (Cash/0% Credit card): $22,000Additional cosmetic rehabs: $6-8kAs-Is Appraisal: $420,000 (April 2021)Current Rental Income (friend living with me): $800Mortgage: $2000Comps in the area: $490-560K but average sqft price $264 with prop size of 2450 sqft, so could be more.Rentals in the area: $2.5-2.9K a month, not including additional living space.My financing/current capital methods:Personal Income: $129,000 a year.Rental Income from above: $800Student loans: $340 a month.No other debts other than CC payments for rehab and personal debts: $12,000.Savings (does not include investment accounts, 401k or IRA): $12,000Cumulative CC Limits: over $50k.My questions include:What are my best options to get this thing to cash flow while adding as much value as possible for a refinance (pay off CC and have cash for another off market property I have in the wings).

Back end refers to your debt to income ratio.