Should I stick with 15-year note or find something longer?

[Chad Pore]

We live in a small town and are looking at purchasing our first rental property in a neighboring town with population 7K. We are looking at lower cost properties as they seem to rent easier in this community. The property 2-bedroom/2-bath listed for $34K and has a renter who has been in it for more than 5-years paying $500/mo plus utilities.  Being from a small town I have a great relationship with my local bank and will have no problem getting a loan for the property.  The problem is my bank will not do a note larger than 15-years, which increases the monthly payment ultimately affecting the cash flow by about $83/month.  On the 15-year note we would cash flow between $50-$75 depending on final insurance numbers, but on a 30-year not we would cash flow $130-$150+.

I have two questions:

1.  Am I thinking to deeply about this? Is $75 cash flow on a 15-year note as good as $100+ on a 30-year note?

2.  Many of the lenders we contacted will not do a loan for less than $50K.  I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on lenders for a longer term for smaller loan amounts?

Thanks for any responses

Chad