We have a mail slot on the door as well so tenants can drop off rent in a sealed envelope with their address and name on it.

In a meanwhile I rent out parking slots.  

They will run Lexis Nexus searches on you to see where your car is registered, what address your utilities are on in, where your mail goes, ect.  

Start with the 4 plex.. live in it legally.. .refi it .. buy another FHA 4 plex live in it legally refi .Do this 4 times over 6 years and by the time he is 30 he will own 16 doors using his 4 mortgage slots  and  in the uber stable NW market and probably have some appreciation and huge tax bene's do this while your young and can make it work

Am I better off just maxing out my conventional slots before I go the alternate route?

My profit is halved, which REALLY slows down the cash flow which was slotted to go towards my next property. 

There has been considerable development around the house in recent years, primarily row/slot homes. 

CA nexus rules may really surprise you.

Therefore, in this scenario, the borrower will free up 4 "slots" to obtain FNMA financing.Ulric Donawa

Also, finding a tenant in the pandemic took us much longer than prior to the pandemic because we did not do open houses but screened each viewing in their own time slot.