The world of financing is far more at the heart of a real estate deal than a new investor may know. By structuring the right financial package, you'll be able to stretch your money further, so that you can either grow your real estate empire more quickly or use your freed up funds to furnish the property, make repairs, or cover vacancies. You truly need to know how to structure a deal to get head when you enter the real estate sphere.

But before you learn about alternative financing, you need a good foundation. Sadly, we've found most new investors are working from a series of half-lessons and nearly half-truths about basic mortgages. That's why we asked Greg McBride from Bankrate to join us. As Bankrate's Chief Analyst, Greg is a pro at evaluating between the 15 and 30 year options, knowing how adjustable rate and balloon mortgages work, and more. He also knows how to navigate the mortgage industry so you're on the lookout for hidden fees, suspiciously low interest rates, and loan processing snafus that may hold up your project. We talk about all of those issues and more with Greg so that you have a solid foundation in the basics before buying that first rental!

But before that, in our headline segment, Crystal and Joe cover a question that we've already been asked a ton: when is the right time to buy a home? We tackle this question by diving into an answer from one real estate pro who helps even the most green investor realize that it isn't the timing as much as creating the right deal that will make you a success in this business.

Later, we take a call from Deeder John, who wonders about a vacation rental property that might be either a long term rental or maybe a short term rental property. How do you decide which is the best option for a given address? We'll talk through our criteria so that if you're deciding how to wring the most money from your real estate, you aren't left wishing you'd done things differently.

Visit our show notes at http://stackingdeeds.net