We were looking at it more for the flexibility of looking at a lot of properties frequently, MLS access and being able to continuously put in offers without exhausting an agent who has other clients to focus on as well.  

A quality education afford one flexibility and options to chase a better quality life in an ever-changing world. 

Does anyone know a reliable and flexible portfolio lender in Phoenix, AZ that you can direct me to ? 

It should be someone who understands investment (buy-and-hold), and be available / flexible with schedule. 

My neighbor and I are both on a lake, but he as a small 1 acre lot that is situated much closer to the water (mines over 70 acres, so I have a lot more flexibility and can get away from the flood plane).  

., from a "professional lender" that is not a bank: Rates will be higher and less flexibility than with "private money."

Things can be negotiated provided one stays within the law but the law is also flexible.

Assuming you are flexible on location, the way to go is looking outside of the Boston-Cambridge-Somerville area - as many people have already mentioned.

It's a genre of music I don't listen to and he does, so needless to say, I'm out $5 and will now be taking Annie's advice.  

The goal with paying it off would be to jump the mental hurdle of owning a property free and clear, start an LLC and transfer the title into that LLC, and then to have a property that we can HELOC against in order to have the flexibility to make cash offers so that we can begin making LLC purchases more easily rather than titling in our own names.I'm certain that plenty here would advise to continue rolling the money into new properties, rather than to pay one down, since owning the house free and clear would provide about half the cash flow that we could get from down payments on two new properties, however my wife (in particular) and I both like the idea of simply owning one property outright and then using the above strategy moving forward.