A follow up question I now have would be do you think its smarter to completely pay off the first property before buying a new property or to keep going out and buying new properties once i have enough saved up for the down payment along with extra fees?

I wish I would have seen this message before coughing them payments! 

The tenants, who were always good, fell on hard times and could no longer keep up with rent payments. 

Trust invests the cash to make the payments on the installment sale to the seller.

I am planning to get into the TN real estate market as my first investment and am looking for some information.In particular: Areas to steer clear of, property management fees, typical cosmetic rehab costs, etc.My strategy is to put large down payments on 2 properties (relative to housing prices) to help pay for my living in NY while still gaining appreciation in a growing real estate market.

Depending on why you are evicting the tenant, Illinois has 3 different notice periods: Five Day Notice of Eviction The Five Day notice is only used for non-payment of rent.

This likely means fewer issues with payments and property upkeep. 

In this manual (which I assume could be modified to provide to tenants) I include all the financing information (which you would not include for tenants) bank accounts, mortgage accounts, payment information, and mortgage payoff), a list of the contractors, what each contractor does, a list of upcoming planned or necessary repairs, and a copy of all leases associated with the property.

There is a book in the library called "Low (and no) Money Down" that discusses the various methods of financing purchases.

I am getting to the point of wanting to back out due to the 27k combined Closing costs, not including down payment. seems like a I should look into finding a new loan officer.