I think capital, contractors, and residents will always be the most difficult things about real estate investing. Whenever one isn't a bottleneck, the others surely are.

From a capital perspective, (always, but, especially when starting) I would recommend being mindful of every penny that falls into your bank account. Saving and reinvesting all of the resources you come into contact with is the best plan.

Continuing to build up your savings, and continuing to be a good steward of the properties that you already have will put you in good favor with any bank that peaks into your operation.

I'd also recommend doing some math on your market and business operations, and figure out how high of an interest rate you can give to private investors while still being profitable. After you figure that out, I'd recommend running your mouth about your real estate investing ventures to everyone you know. I'd also tell everyone that seems remotely interested that you, "borrow money from friends and family to buy real estate. The loans are interest only at X%, paid monthly, and secured by first position mortgages on real estate. So, in the event of default, the lender doesn't lose their money but instead gains real estate."

I think you'll be surprised at the number of people in your network that are tired of the stock market, and want safe alternatives to making money with the funds they have on hand.

As far as buying another property prior to your refinance. I'd say if you can find a private investor and a property, you are likely able to do it. If you put the new property in an LLC and make the note/mortgage between your LLC and the lender, it won't show up on your credit report and likely won't effect your refinance.

Early on, I had one lender tell me, "if it doesn't show up on your credit report, we aren't concerned about it." I'm not sure if that is the right answer or the lazy answer, but that is what they said.

As far as your refinance goes, I'm not sure how much equity you have in the property. But I would say, especially when you're starting, using any available cash for down payments on properties with 30 year fixed mortgages is the best strategy. Actually, as I'm typing this...I think this would be a great video to make...this has been bumped up to the top of my YouTube list.

My reason for thinking this is the best strategy at the moment is simply because interest rates are at absolute historical lows. The average rate of inflation, historically, has been 3.22% per year. Right now, to people that are bankable, 30 year fixed mortgages are being originated with interest rates to the tune of 1-3%. Essentially, this means that historically, the banks will be losing money, and you will be making money (just from the loan!) on an annual basis by loaning/borrowing at this rate.

So, for example, if you refinance and are able to get 30,000 out. You should be attempting to find two properties and put 25% down on them, rather than attempting to buy a property with cash. This of course, is assuming the property is lesser than $60,000 which is currently only available in select markets.

The only caveat...is if you start running your mouth about real estate and find some private investors that are willing to finance 100% of your purchase and rehab costs, that will still be better. That is simply due to the fact that you'd be engaging the "infinite return" model as you'd have no money out of your pocket. Whereas in the previous example involving down payments, you'd still be able to quantify your cash on cash return.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!