Personally If you like your current residence and hope to stay there long term I would forgo major improvements on my primary and use all investment savings to make you more money and cash flow. 

. -- Thus, you can expect to get Class C or D tenants, which have a 15-25% probability of defaulting on their lease payments.2) If your PMC is lowering FICO to 550, what are they doing to improve their screening in other areas?

If you aren't paying cash and are doing owner occupancy you may be able to use FHA instead of Conventional with a higher down payment. 

I paid cash and roughly 25% of retail value. 

They have had 100% occupancy at market rates and currently bring in around $2,000 per month in cash flow.

.$300k cash flow in 20 years is an ambitious but not unrealistic goal. 

Repayment options can be more flexible like in my case I do everything on accrual this really helps flippers when they dont have to make monthly payments.

What property management software or tools would you recommend for tracking rent payments, leases, and maintenance requests?

Best practice is to keep one or two payments in reserve from the buyers down payment for such instances.

It’s a great way to grow faster.HELOC or Equity Tapping: If you have equity in another property, using a HELOC or cash-out refinance could help cover the down payment without affecting your DTI as much.Seller Financing or Creative Deals: Look for sellers willing to finance directly, which bypasses traditional mortgage qualification hurdles.Scaling quickly often involves combining strategies—play around with what works best for your goals.