This cashout refi is treated just as another business loan, there is no limit. 

Would love to treat some local folks to a nice free meal or coffee in exchange for allowing me to pick their brain. 

The court almost treated it like a latent defect and said the buyer had a right to know there was a situation with the house that would make selling it at a later date extremely difficult. 

They finally send someone back out to look at the property again, and this time they tell me the basement had been flooded and there is mold growing up the walls.I'm not real pleased with how the PM treated things, but now I need to deal with insurance.

Meanwhile you can invest the $500k downpayment in cheaper markets.And yet another option would be to try to get a lease option deal on a Milpitas house that locks in a purchase price for say 5 years, by which time it may be a no-brainer to purchase if the market has appreciated, but if the market goes south you can treat it like a rental and walk away or renegotiate the deal (lower price).

first, treat the decision to buy a new home and the decision to rent the old one as separate. your first decision must be to determine if you should sell or rent the old home.

@Cameron Belknap FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 mention not counting the basement as part of the Gross Living Area; however, part of the FHA requirements found in HUD 4000.1 includes a section on “converted spaces” which states:“The Appraiser must treat room additions and garage conversions as part of the GLA of the dwelling, provided that the addition or conversion space…is accessible from the interior of the main dwelling in a functional manner; has a permanent and sufficient heat source… and was built in keeping with the design, appeal, and quality of construction of the main dwelling.”Furthermore,“The Appraiser must analyze and report differences in functional utility when selecting comparable properties of similar total GLA that do not include converted living space.

My advice would be to treat service members the same as everyone else. 

Title companies are highly regulated - "investor" and "client" really shouldn't be treated any differently by either a title co or an attorney. 

Treat your rental properties like a business, not a hobby.