It’s a great way to grow faster.HELOC or Equity Tapping: If you have equity in another property, using a HELOC or cash-out refinance could help cover the down payment without affecting your DTI as much.Seller Financing or Creative Deals: Look for sellers willing to finance directly, which bypasses traditional mortgage qualification hurdles.Scaling quickly often involves combining strategies—play around with what works best for your goals.

When you go to sell, Montvale requires a certificate of occupancy so this issue has to be resolved in advance of a sale.Although I am not a lender, I assume you will not be approved for an owner-occupied mortgage on 5-units if it is a legal 4-unit without some type of mortgage fraud whether in reported rents, units, or another legal document or representation (very very large issue from a legal perspective with multiple arrests in the last year for anyone playing fast and loose).As far as the DCA, I would recommend coordinating your work with the city with the DCA.

This plays into the affordability issues for tenants by allowing them to live in nicer neighborhoods for less money, yet I get monthly revenue comparable to short-term rentals.

If he makes less 94K a year and married he can take advantage of zero tax rate which would come into play. 

Play it smart by aligning your investments with your goals, timing, and risk appetite.

That is our Bible or road plans for repositioning value plays in good hard working blue Collar areas of Ohio.  

So things like, xbox/playstation ping pong for the kids maybe a turf strip to play some putt-putt for the adults etc...

I do not wish to divulge that here simply because I don't want the thieves to know how I play my hand. 

It seemed like a long-term play with less price or industry volatility.

It's hard to harvest equity on these plays, unless you commit, long-term, towards very light leverage, as the only practical ways to benefit from the equity in your portfolio, if you plan to never sell it, only exchange it, for a lifetime, are to spend the cash flow, or cash out refi.