Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Thank you for giving me valuable insight! 

Your biggest issue with 5 bedrooms is that 50% of your income is going towards the mortgage, I do not believe banks would even lend to you with a DTI above 40-45 (mortgage + other debts).

After purchase, you can do a cash-out refi of 75% of the appraised value to free up your cash again, and repeat.There's also DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loans.

Currently, I’m working on clearing my debt and saving as much as possible, with plans to start my journey by house hacking with my partner.

Older and less interested in risk/debt?

Driven by favorable interest rates and stock market performance, debt issuance has been the main capital driver.

So, I believe this would require me to get additional debt via a separate loan at a rate higher than my mortgage rate.

People sometimes make bad decisions in life and you have to decide whether it is forgivable or not.

I have really bad credit, thanks to being a Dave Ramsey follower for a decade but very little debt.