I wanted to share a deal I’m working on because it made me realize you can sometimes enter a BRRRR-style deal by buying the debt instead of the property.Here are the numbers:• 3 bed, 2 bath single-family home in Michigan• Non-performing mortgage acquired through foreclosure• Unpaid balance: ~$95k• Purchased the note for ~$60kAfter stepping into the position of the note holder and completing foreclosure, I now control the property.The plan now looks very similar to BRRRR:• Rehab the property• Stabilize it with an occupant• Potentially refinance or sell once stabilizedGoing through this process made me realize how much easier deals could be if sellers could see real buyer interest signals up front, so I built a deal intelligence platform that helps sellers close faster by identifying active buyer signals around note deals.If you’re a note investor or BRRRR-e, DM me, I’m giving early access to anyone who wants to check it out and see how it could help speed up your next deal.

You can find it here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/insights/property-searches/new and accessible from your Pro member dashboard.

I'm not opposed to an online service as I'm traveling more and that would be easier to access, but I've heard horror stories (plus super expensive) to go with QB online. 

Physical Site, Access & Market Reality CheckAlways walk the site and take pictures / drone aerial.

That's where the truth comes out.Are you in a market with good MLS access or are you still trying to find properties?

Congrats on the preapproval — that’s a big first step.For a first owner-occupied duplex, I’d focus on a few fundamentals:• True rent comps, not seller pro forma (especially unit-by-unit)• Mechanical separation (utilities, furnaces, electric) — this matters more than people realize• Deferred maintenance on roofs, sewer lines, and foundations — older duplexes hide costs• Local taxes and reassessment risk after purchaseOn the Northside specifically, block-by-block matters a lot, so walking the area at different times of day helps more than spreadsheets alone.Keep your first deal boring and forgiving — strong cash flow beats aggressive assumptions.

The area can be as big as 10 SQ miles, and as small as a couple of blocks. 

The Ocala market is one of the fastest-growing areas of Florida right now as it offers that "old-Florida" charm with its rolling hills (compared to the flatter southern parts of the state), heritage oaks, Spanish moss, and horse farms galore, while still providing easy access to beaches (on either coast) as well as to the theme parks of Orlando. 

But the investors who handle it well aren't doing more inspections under contract, they're walking in with fewer unknowns because they did the homework before the clock started.How do you handle it when access is limited during the showing: tenant occupied, restricted areas, that kind of thing?

It is located one block off the main street that leads to Glacier, in the town of Hungry Horse.