If I stick with a long term, I’ll run the background and credit checks for the family member and if all goes well, will likely rent to them.

You just got pre-approved and are ready to make your first investment in a rental property.You are worried about rates and margins on your investment.If you can buy a value-add duplex near you, ideally with tenants in place, I would look at doing that or live in one side of the duplex and put less down.That way, you start with cashflow and can prepare to improve the property and increase rents when a tenant moves and you should always have a rent check coming in.If you buy it well enough, you can refinance the property and pull out a home equity line of credit and go buy the next duplex in a short period of time.If you cannot find that near you, there are several markets in Michigan where you can and we have experienced property manager partners who can handle the rehab and manage the property well.Top Your Success!

I would double-check the rate quote.

Most all of them will have liens; the ones I have checked public records on do anyway and it is doubtful the builder will pay them.

However, we’ll still get the Homebuilder Confidence Report on Thursday, offering a pulse check on construction sentiment.Catch you next week, Derek Brickley #LoansbyDB

It’s still a good idea to have someone check the home’s physical mailbox periodically to clear out junk mail or catch anything that slips through.

Check on perks for military using this.  

I’ll also say, since you’re still exploring, it might be worth broadening your lens a bit—markets like Columbus, Ohio are attracting tons of out-of-state investors right now because they check so many of those same boxes in terms of affordability, landlord-friendliness, job growth, and population inflow, and you can still buy rentals in the $120–180K range that hit the 1% rule and generate immediate cash flow while riding the wave of appreciation from huge employers like Intel, Amazon, Google, Honda, Microsoft, and LG moving in.

That’s why I’m focused on creating a no-debt model that protects principal first and still provides consistent checks and upside. 

@Henry Clark thank you for taking the time to reply and I have been checking prior discussions, but most folks that respond do not appear to live in California.