All Forum Posts by: Viola Robarge

Generally speaking HELOCs are going to have higher interest rates than 30 year fixed loans even on rentals.  I would consider a couple things:

1) Smaller HELOC for down payment of 20-30% and a normal loan for the remaining balance. This will reduce your overall mortgage payments and to be frank, 30 year loans with sub 100k balances are extremely difficult to finance right now.

2) Likely avoid DSCR loans since you mentioned you plan on using the property for personal use and DSCR loans are fairly strict on business purpose rules.

3) Talk to other investors in the area and run pricelabs/airdna reports to get an understanding of what you can rent it out for to see if it is worth the capital outlay and cash flow.  Make sure to note what months make the most money.

Hope this helps!

@Viola Robarge welcome to the forumns, there are many specific threads here on short term and vacation rentals, I'm not an expert in that asset nor in your interested market.  However, I would advise you to give thought to something that either is muti unit, or that has the ability for you to stay in a sectioned off portion while the rest of the property is being used for incomes.  This will maximize both your available days for rental and your flexibility in travel timing.  But if you are considering putting $100K down and financing 50K your biggest issue will likely be finding a lender that will finance something so small, you are likely better off doing a standard 20% down loan and then using the additional capital you have from your heloc for furnishing/upgrades etc.