By that time, we want to be ready to purchase our first investment property.Our goals:Replace my income as quickly as possible (i.e. cash flow element is our priority for now :) ).

Regarding the small MF element, I agree with Dave's thoughts. 

The points above are all good points, but the most important element is protecting your 1031 Exchange funds.  

@Adrian Gonzalez yes, "debt to income" (DTI) is factored in all government style loans (FHA/VA/Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac/etc) but an important element is that your DTI should get BETTER for each investment property you buy...because we only buy properties that cash flow, right? 

I suspect this is the problem again.I'm not sure why this element is giving us problems. 

The partnership element is the wrinkle I did not come across in other posts. 

The human element is much more integral to the process because your typical home buyer and seller need to be constantly reassured that they are ok. 

But it's best to learn how to run numbers manually on your own so fully understand the formulas and why each element is important.

So, every business has the ability to add a human element.  I

I might be in the minority but if it were me I would probably take a look at it and if it wasn't something obvious like a burnt out element I would just replace it.