You're missing one factor: That you can sell your property and probably not pay capital gains since you've lived in the property for 2 our of the last 5 years.I'd split, sell and take the money (or most of it) cap gains free.

But it does not offer that 'wow factor'.

My fiancee has to commute to the loop, which is an important factor. 2.

The 180 day limit was never a factor, even the 45 day limit didn’t come in to play. 

Another factor that is very important is the bidding process. 

However, increasing insurance rates means that this shortage is also increasing so my monthly payment is increasing exponentially to accommodate the increase in both my insurance rate and my shortage (my mortgage has increased over $400 monthly in the past 1.5 years because of these factors).TL;DR - Is it normal for a bank to require a positive escrow balance at all times like my current bank does?

Now comparing a C class home with a B class of course the C class will have a higher repair factor but that is across the board no matter who the tenant is.

This all depends on the loan factors like Credit score, LTV, DSCR ratio (rents vs the PITI payment), and loan size.Good news rates are down but the other positive news is they are trending down and that means you can pull cash out now and then simply refinance in 12 months or more to lower the rate.

I use a PM on all my properties - just factor it into your returns - it's an additional expense just like vacancy or repairs.

factor.