You’re saying take a conventional loan, use it to buy a rental and not pull the equity from the condo at all?

But I'd want photos of the problem and the solution to prove the mold is gone and the leak is fixed before I'd close escrow.

@Matthew K. there are tax benefits to either strategy.If you've lived in your old house for 2 out of the last 5 years, you can exclude up to $250k ($500k if you're married) of the gain from your taxable income.If you use funds from a HELOC, you tap into the equity of your old home, pull out money tax free, and invest it.

Hey MattI’m one of those guys that had hangups when someone mentioned vinyl flooring because it raised images of that cheap, peeling laminate that was easily cut and invariably began pulling up, flaking and cracking.  

I just want to pull the trigger on a property and learn from the process ASAP.

He told me one of the first steps was to pull the county assessed tax ticket value. 

There were so many times I wanted to just pull out because I was afraid of the unknown, but thankfully we pushed through at the expense of some sleepless nights.

It turned a 2 car garage into a 1 car garage, but a person can pull a car into the garage, shut the garage door, and still easily get up the ramp. 

Instead, you could either refinance the duplex and pull some cash out, or you could see about getting a HELOC on it. 

I reached out to a few other investors I know too, and they've offered a few creative solutions, some tested in court, some not.