But if you buy four $200K houses then it's apples to apples and you're not going to fall behind.For what it's worth, I'd be concerned that if you over extend yourself buying a primary home you'll create a larger scale issue than just being house poor.

Tough to get a more apple to apple comparison.  

Get fee sheets or loan estimates from whichever 2-3 lenders you're considering and make an apples to apples comparison.

But if you search "Finance Friday" on BiggerPockets Money podcast on apple or spotify or wherever you listen they have some real gems that might help you think about where to start! 

I'd love to help out in any way except going through the hassle of anything Apple related.

Johnny sells apples.

They are not always apples to apples, so a qualified and experienced broker, can sift through the many options and present you with the best three.

Apples to apples, if you're going with a solid conventional lender on the refinance, it should only be about ~0.125% difference in pricing doing rate/term vs. doing cash-out refinance at the LTV you're talking about, assuming all other loan /property factors check out.

If you are looking within the same municipality, you are generally apples to apples. 

It’s a jack of all trades here with little to no trade offs/cons when comparing apples to apples to other large STR markets.The key to success here though comes in the knowledge and execution.