Married filing jointly, W-2 job that'd put us into the 15% federal capital gains territory.

But probate stuff is foreign territory to me, and I don’t really know how much protection some sort of pre-signed agreement between me and the would-be seller would give me.

Navigating where to inquire about a HELOC is new territory for us.

Conventional / High balance will allow for as little as 5% down (again, so long as you're not in "jumbo" territory). this will give you a lot easier barrier to entry, but it's all a trade off -- your rate will be higher with less down, as will your payments, and you will have mortgage insurance. 

Don't get me wrong, I am sure there is, and I'm here to learn this and prove to myself that my notions are outdated.I will be very happy to connect with you while we venture into this somewhat unknown territory!

Depending on how parking is set up, they have restrictions on that, animals, common areas, noise, etc.Vacancy just comes with the territory, we would all like to have our properties rented 100% time, but at least for me starting out, that's not the case. 

The purchase prices put them into institutional territory and therefore demographic trends have a much stronger push on their investment decisions.  

If I subtract the insurance claim payments I am in negative territory. 

I've explored a portfolio loan with cash out, but unfortunately due to the massive amount of cap-ex and repairs working with Rental Certification through the city, we're just now entering positive territory with cash flow.

This is new territory to me so any info you have would be greatly appreciated!