This banker prefers to take a first mortgage on the cross collateralization,Your FICO must be excellent and the banker will pull your credit to see what else is there.

Well, is there any excellent sites for properties?

The courthouse is an excellent source for that.You can also do a search on the net there are some sites that have that information too.

Both towns are have some excellent neighborhoods.

Exciting stuff, let me share this with you, exotic strategies presented as if they are applicable to any deal, any time, with no or little money........it's the bait we see.And, no surprise, I just now visited your profile, low and behold, you're a coach and author of real estate books........guess I was right.Now, that isn't a bad thing at all, I also see you're a CPA, excellent!  

(Don't get me on my soapbox about the stupidity of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home only to skip the $100 for HD photographs for your rental.)The 65% rule?

A HML will likely make a loan to a first time investor IF that person knew their stuff excellently (do your homework) and had a realistic project scope of work (keep it simple).  

You probably will end up tracking some of the numbers in Excel (or other software.)Most of us do bookkeeping at an office/home, not necessary when we are out, so this is probably a minor issue, but if you buy QuickBooks Desktop version, then you can only enter/view from where the computer is (unless you set up some type of remote access.)

It’s an excellent strategy for the communities you mention due to their high costs.My wife and I are currently househacking a 4-unit in Waltham and we used an FHA loan to keep our down payment low and allow for us to make significant capital improvements.

🏘️ This can be an excellent way to jump into your first property (especially a househack) for a smaller $$$ out pocket if the situation fits and the numbers work!