To answer your question about maximizing profitability: I choose to invest for equity and forced appreciation.

This means that someone who makes $43,000/year would now eligible to buy this room condo, and have access to a vehicle through which to build equity in an asset as an alternative to paying rent. 

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Use tools like the VA loan for house hacking and your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to cover living costs while building equity.

Like you we had 3 teams of two door knockers  2 for safety one women one man.. and we door knocked every NOD in our 2 mil MSA  all to boil it down to if we were very lucky to get 2 to 3 deals a month.. now we were a little different I only would buy very high equity deals.. and we leased back .. because as you state 99% don't want to leave.. 

We pride ourselves in keeping the forums positive, helpful, and focused on real estate (please, no politics, religion, etc.).

•Likely, the new property wouldn’t be cashflow positive due to the market conditions.2.Upgrade to a Bigger Property and Sell•Sell our current home and move into a larger house to better meet our family’s needs.• Use some equity from the sale to make this transition smoother.I’m torn between maintaining our current home as an asset and buying  a new smaller house to use as a rental after we move back in versus simplifying and focusing on a single upgraded property Considering factors like market trends, potential equity growth, and quality of life, which path do you think would be most beneficial?

From what I can tell, the extra equity on the house could be utilized to provide better ROI.  

How are unsophisticated mom & pop lenders in 2nd and 3rd position on those properties going to get their investment back?

Or would it be the total equity - so the difference between 450k and remaining mortgage of 120k?