If you psychologically are okay with the debt, it makes more sense to stretch out payments on SL as long as possible.

@Wayne Brooks : From Wikipedia: "Social engineering, in the context of information security, refers to psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information."

Not for career purposes but just to find out how much I didn't know about less "practical" subjects like Philosophy and Psychology.

The funny thing is the lack of liquidity with RE helps me from an investing psychology.  

In other words, rents do not tend to drop substantially in economic downturns.There is no doubt, that signing a commitment to a lender for hundreds of thousands is psychologically jarring for any financially responsible person.  

I see what you mean about me still being on the hook anyways and I'm not actually reducing any risk by maximizing leverage.I think it's just a psychological thing, about wanting my sweet cash in my hands.

Ultimately my down payment is bigger than $7000, so it is completely a psychological play.

So there's also some psychology of the search that comes into play as well. 

I have been discouraged by other real estate agents from entering the field due to high student loan payments (Bachelors in Psychology) but that is why I have not quit my "day job."

I alternated books - one substantive/topical (I'm an international affairs guy), one leadership/motivational/spiritual, and one which I call "mind-expanding" which teaches the mind to think outside the box (e.g. anything by Malcolm Gladwell, Freakonomics, certain business or sociology/psychology-related books).