I'm leaning toward going with a buy and hold strategy.

I went through a turnkey (roofstock) and felt that that was a really good "crutch" to lean on. 

Since you already are aware that appreciation is lean in your area, and you don't know where the market is going to be in 5 years when the balloon payment comes due, I would try to pay down as if you can.

I'm leaning towards allowing the guest at this point because I don't want to interfere with the tenants' lives, these have been good tenants, and I'm always for helping out those who serve in the military, but I don't want to put me or my tenant in a bad situation or a situation that could spiral out of control.Thanks in advance!

Flat roofs have other issues, they always eventually leak and can puddle up large bodies of water for mosquitoes to breed.

Based on the facts in your post I would lean more towards purchasing a home that is in turn key condition, enjoy the equity, and tax benefits while you educate yourself on other details of real estate. 

Happy Monday everybody,I have a question and would like to hear from you guys on this.Has any body used a financing company to buy a rental property who doesn’t required personal income verification?

They also mentioned it could be subjective upon the individual auditor, and in their experience the auditors lean towards the side of collecting for the IRS.

I’m getting some replies from contractors saying costs per sqft range from $200-$300... compared to what I leaned from other states, that’s a huge difference... so, I know costs for everything in the Bay Area are higher than any other place, but I’d like know if that’s accurate...Thanks

(not sure how to fix this)I got the letter on 5/18 , 4/22 was when my tenant complained to authority.I mean sometime these authority just write without verifying much , there was a flood in 2006 and since then some of the floor is leaning and tenant knew about and it is totally habitable as I also do physical inspection every year myself.