However, if having your own separate home is your main goal, buying a personal home first might be better, though it could limit your ability to buy an investment property soon after.

If it's in a major city with public transit you can limit the number of rooms that include parking.

I dont know anything about which of them put the money up or if it was some fraction from both and don't intend to try to study that out. 

As a general partner on two syndication deals, I’d recommend reaching out to your main sponsor to understand how depreciation is allocated between general partners and limited partners for that particular deal.

Unfortunately it’s very probable you will be responsible for this unless there is a statute of limitations in your state which could come into play.

However, since you listed each property under separate activities, you may face limitations.

They will help you ensure you don’t accidentally leave money on the table by helping you study your competition and by raising or lowering your rates so you can compete better.

This mindset limits the size of investments I can pursue more than if I did not have this objective.   

So, if there aren't any comps for that property type, then you would be limited in the value that would be given, thus limiting the amount of renovations to be financed.  

To be safe, it’s usually a good idea to wait a bit—most people suggest 6–12 months.Also, keep in mind that lenders will base the amount you can pull out on the appraised value and their loan-to-value limits, so you might not be able to take out the full difference between $2M and $2.5M.Hope that clears things up!