Even though you already have a W2, you might want to explore ways to increase your income and/or decrease expenditure in order to expedite the down payment savings.

Given rising debt costs, decreasing loan proceeds, and unpredictable demand, upcoming loan maturities will indeed test the market's resilience.

Which way to share supporting documents (Google drive, email, dropbox, etc)Types of loans available (terms, maturity, etc)Interest ratePoints for various ratesDo you offer a floating lock (adjustment if rates decrease)Closing costs (brokers fee?

How much of a decrease should I ask for?

Beg and borrow before you touch your 401kI am not sure timing matters too much.in 2005-2009, the overall market tanked, meaning that investments inside and outside of a 401K would have tanked.Many people saw their 401k balances decrease significantly from 2005 and the few years after.Also starting your own business, that is a risk that everyone faces when starting your own business.Business can go up 0% or to 1000%. 

On top of that, our rent drastically decreased so that helped.

Here in Reno, NV we have seen a 3% decrease in rents but an increase in the median price of a home. 

When investing 50-60k you ve got 2 optionsIn an area where property value won t go up and the rent won t be high(but probably low tax and low hoas)  or a smaller property but where the value will go up and rent will be higher (but higher tax and hoas).In the 1st option, it will never change until a major real estate investor makes a deal with the city and decides to turn the area into an upscale one.In the second option, you are already making money; on today s market I ve sold a few units of mine on which the return is at 8% net and the value of the property is going up 15-20% each year.What you don t want is flip the property too many times in the course of 2-3 years, because of the real estate commission that as a consequence increase artificially the market price and decrease terribly your margin/gains.If you sell 70k from which you substract real estate commission(6%) and title fees, you ll end up with less money to buy a similar property that therefore you won t be able to buy(or re-invest in that case); so you ll be losing money and only the real estate agent will be making money.

@Timothy Church I have recently been interested in Galveston vacation rentals - but feel that the supply could soon outweigh the demand, coupled with the impending legal implications of cities trying to curtail the rise in these.Basically, with 1,200+ units to choose from, a holiday goer will soon see rapid price drops to try and gain bookings from the owners as their occupancy levels decrease...What's your realistic short-term and long-term predictions in this space, and do you think there is still viable potential here?

Agreed, using a HELOC and buying cash gives you more power but substantially decreases growth potential and cash on cash return.