You do this so that it lowers your monthly payments and allows you to improve cash flow on the property.

I once carried my R.E. in the early ninety's , but with 4 young children and a full time job , it was hard to dedicate any time to the industry.

Within 12 months, I improved my credit score, got approved for a VA loan, and bought my first duplex!

Here's the front of the house with the new paint job.

You may not get landlording experience but you'll get maintenance, financing, and paperwork experience.I think the discussion points in your head and with them are around what kind of improvements they would need or desire (if you have to make it elderly accessible that could be a selling point for the next tenants, but what if they want something that will cause you more upkeep in the future?)

With both of us debt free, we are starting our wealth accumulation/building phase of our life, and we know we need three things from previous research weve been doing, that is paper assets (jobs,401k,Roth IRA, Tax Accounts...), Business (have a few ideas of some businesses), and what brings us to this awesome place, REAL ESTATE. 

The job I left was well paying and I had some cushion w/savings and my wife working a teacher position (nothing fancy).  

It's a much better situation than evicting someone who lost their job and has no way of paying a judgement.

Not an insurance agent but i believe the difference is, the Vacant policy covers the existing structure plus improvements as they are done. the builders risk insures the material and i believe aspects of the project as it is built, since there is no structure. so if you happen to take a builders risk and you are doing reno, it may not cover you for the existing structure .

The market has improved considerably in Corpus and my house is now worth anywhere around $160,000 and up depending how updated it is.We want to sell the house and take the proceeds to invest in other real estate.