Hardly anyone can prep properly, mask or dropcloth properly, cut in around trim and windows, get even coverage, etc. 

Over time I have amassed a good quantity of houses with no mortgages.

Think about a home mortgage--you OWN the property, but the bank might be able to take it away from you.

Mortgage payment is approx $1800.

I can have multiple one use code for contractors so I can control access without physically going there.You do not need to carry the key, just need to keep track all codesMain disadvantage is that the locking requires the door to close properly, otherwise the tenant may not know the door is not licked.

With mortgage rates close to 7% and generally soft homebuying sentiment, strength in existing home sales is unlikely to be sustained," said Alice Zheng, an economist at Citigroup.

For now, it Looks like your roommate/tenant can cover half of your mortgage (plus hoa fees). 

Once each cabin is built we would like to take a mortgage out to recover our cash and then use to build the next.

The reason is that one wants to be able to properly avail themselves to the laws and protection of the corresponding state where the property lies.

If you are doing rentals, especially long term rentals, you are unlikely to be able to live off of those for a while if they have mortgages.