We also got them to have it professionally cleaned, ducts cleaned, they threw in some furniture for free, paid a lot of the closing costs that buyer usually pays, paid most recent mill levy instead of prior years taxes, paid my 2.8% commission, etc. because it is a buyers market and that's what you can negotiate in a buyer's market. 

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

At least, if you don't want issues down the road tax wise and if the government finds out it could cause some serious legal issues.

Some factors to consider are appreciation and tax strategies.

A lot of lenders used to apply 35% for expenses, but in the last several years, the numbers for supplies, labor, utilities, taxes, etc… have increased significantly.Also take into account the age, occupancy and how has the property been maintained, this will affect the expenses too

I'd rather have enough properties to reach a comfortable cashflow of maybe $20,000/month with very low debt and leverage.

I’ve taken care of all my debt and am pre-approved for roughly $220,000.

Weirdly, you may actually be able to get better terms and/or more LTV on the refinance if there is debt on the property as lenders have rules for max cash in hand (max proceeds you get at closing) for cash-out refinances.  

There are rentals, fix and flippers, lenders, tax liens, note investors, STR, commercial etc.

The main reason I ask is because that is significantly below primary residence mortgage rates let alone any investment loans, if you can get rates like that I might need to make some changes on my end hahahTo answer your original question, assuming all else is equal long-term fixed rate debt is valuable.