If not the conservative route would be to acquire the cash reserves,educate yourself about rental market, and stabilize your current financial position.That way when Mr.

I've closed one deal with him already via regular wholesale and built a relationship.

Yes you can use the income from the first property in addition to any regular income you have to finance the second one.

I'm looking to either go the hard money lender route or heloc route to get it rehabbed.

@Chris Cozzens FHA loan is like a regular mortgage except you are only putting down 3.5% instead of the traditional 20% down payment.

Either way will be great experience and building a portfolio will do much more for your long term wealth than a regular 9-5.

You have no way of knowing how long it will take you to get an offer at your asking price from another party and if you go that route, you are certain to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 in commissions (5%).  

I hope this snowballs into a regular meetup, but that all depends on the interest.No BS sales pitches, just education specific to the Katy area.

Everything is pretty basic stuff.You may feel overwhelmed because of all the new information, and maybe you don't use math that often regularly (like most of us!).

I've heard a little bit about cash out refi, not sure if that'd be a smart route, Ive read about all cash buyers doing this after they purchase a property and get it ready for rent.