That being said, I had competing issues. 1) my wife and I are buying a new primary residence (much to my chagrin), and 2) in december, we bought a condo rental that is currently being renovated (a much lighter project) and that process is also a little stressful.   

If you're using traditional financing on your primary residence, they're going to do another credit check on you just before closing.

If maintaining cash flow is your primary objective, you might want to explore other options.

If you are purchasing a primary home, income could be a challenge if you work at an office.

They get a higher return since they are covering housing cost, have the $250k per spouse primary residence deduction in gains, is a savings account, higher leverage position, lower interest rate possible, will pay more premium for location, etc.House might be overpriced for REITs but not for home owners.  

My primary strategy is Fix and Flip, and I bring a DIY attitude to every project.

You should be able to claim the ENTIRE mortgage interest as they let you on primary homes.

Second, Texas also allows Texas homeowners to do cash-out refinance their primary residence.

If not, do you own the primary home you're living in now? 

It really helped us get a better interest rate on the property and typically allowed us to put 10-20% down since we were buying the home to be our primary residence.