Should I buy house with cash or mortgage it?

[Rufus Crumble]

I have a lump sum of money that I would like to invest in real estate. I am a true beginner and I’m wondering should I buy the investment cash and fix it up and either rent it or flip it or should I take out a mortgage fix it up and rent it or flip it? Based off where I live if I purchased cash I would still be able to fix it up with what I have leftover. But then all of my cash would be tied up in that property. My goal is to continue to buy more properties after my 1st one. Any help would be appreciated!

[Diana Muresan]

You can buy and fix it up with a renovation loan for investment properties on Fannie Mae HomeStyle program. Briefly, you find a $100,000 fixer up, you need $50,000 in repairs, your new purchase price is acquisition plus renovation, total $150,000, you need only 15% downpayment, which is $22,500. You choose your own general contractor and the $50,000 for renovation is funded directly to your GC in 4-5 draws after the closing. You can also roll in the mortgage payments in the loan amount during the renovation period if the property is not livable, you can either sell after renovation or rent. You can also do 2 properties at the same time, pending on how fast you want to move