I was looking for options and pros and cons as to each option related to expense not so much with emotions.  

Good on you for not letting emotion and the excitement of getting a deal cloud your judgement. 

Remember that your investment doesn't care about your emotional investment.

So there are two things to unpack here: Emotional Risk and Actual Risk. 

The Austin market is still going strong and we live in a very desirable area.We *could* roll up some debt and take our mortgage to 284k.This would increase our mortgage payment by 566/month, but by reducing the monthly minimum payments with the debt disappearing we would gain an additional 1000-1100/month (after the 566 is deducted).I'm also aware that mortgage interest is something we can deduct from our annual taxes vs. other debt which we can't...This is not our forever home, but we've had so much equity in our home for so long that I can tell I'm fearful to cut into our equity, but I don't want baseless emotion to make this decision and keep us tied to something that we're not looking to stay in forever.

I’m also aware of the emotional side of dealmaking, how badly I want it all to work, but being mindful of forcing a situation I should walk away from.

Side note, the guy is an emotional roller coaster sometimes.

Both are jobs that take time and emotional energy.Beginning both at once, one you are trained in and one you're (learning on your own dime for better or worse) is a big bite.If I were you, I'd buy into a facility with others as Jay recommended, which will add to your net worth and be likely to benefit you long term, and in the mean time stack up liquid cash, as much as you can, and study this business.Or if you want, just go for it and move forward with ether multi-family or single family knowing it's not as time free or risk free as many make it seem.

I will have to work on separating business from the emotional aspect.

After reviewing the applications (and this is probably day 3 of holding the apartment for them because they said they wanted it and then it took another day and a half to turn in their application), she contacted me and said she wanted the rent prorated (I said I had no problem with that) but also that she wanted me to redraft the contracts because "[she] has an emotional support animal.