They typically take a portion of whatever they save you as their fee.

If the rate is reasonable then it may make sense to try to save fast to get to the 3.5% down payment on a double or triple - househacking may allow you to increase your savings rate and pay down that loan even faster.As for estimating costs, closing in NY factor at least 1% of the mortgage amount for tax, plus $1500-2000 for lawyer, title and fees, then the amount required by the bank for escrow will depend on the actual property taxes and insurance.

After owning the property for 1 week and putting in a lot of sweat equity, I've concluded that I want to keep the Inherited tenants based on the condition of their living space and the quality of the people, Knowing I want to keep them to save myself the headache of a  turnover and vacancy of a projected move out If I were to suddenly increase rents. 

Kind of marveling, in the back of my head, at how well REI supports retirement income, but not really groking it.

This is just one example but without some intense research online you may not learn this, but by speaking with someone very knowledgeable in your chosen areas you not only save time but may find even better opportunities.Best of luck!

Both on one loan may save you a bit up front in costs, but it'll make it more complicated if you ever decide to keep one and sell one.

It can just be held in a savings account, no special account needed, but I always keep mine in an account separate from anything else.

So after being laid off a few times in the last 8 years I decided to get back into investing but this time focusing on buy and hold multi family real estate so that I could built wealth that could help me retire my wife who just had a long battle with cancer and survived , but is now back to work, and I want to give her a relaxing life free of all the stress of the world (by the way did I mention she is also in the mortgage lending field) so that explains the urgency to retire her from w-2 work ! 

<<< Of course that is what I am trying to tell you but don't confuse 'advantage' with 'different' -- if your goal to is maximize your return than you should be more hands on; if your goal is more to save time and hassle then let someone else do it all for you; in the end you get what you put in. 

Handyman Contractor Insights: These will best come from interviews or referrals from social media (friends/friends of friends) that are retired contractors or tradesmen.