Depends who you ask and how secure you feel about your income On the one hand being debt free is great, but leverage allows us to build our wealth quicker.RE investors are notorious for being cash poor, so I would avoid thatIf youre able to comfortably save 100k a year and have enough reserves, I think buying leveraged properties is the best way to scale.You could kill two birds with one stone theoreticallyThey say paying an extra month a year towards principal saves you 7 years on a 30 year fixed mortgageUsing that logic you can add 2+ months a year on your primary, and buy 1 property a year and keep enough reserves. 

Quote from @Gary Bonds: Any best practices when attempting to secure business funding from a bank, in the form of a loan or credit?

I did not read the rules around security deposits. you may be allowed to use those funds and still file a small claims action for any remainder, but I can't imagine that it would be worth it if you have at least one month's rent in security deposit. 

I also am Located in Western Washington in the Pacific Northwest.

with auto-pay options, automatic late fees, and reminders, lease signing, security deposit collection, etc. 

For simplicity, consider forming separate LLCs in each state for properties, using a revocable living trust for probate avoidance, and securing umbrella insurance.

Location: Tampa, FLZoned: RS-50Lot size: 6,969 sq ftNew construction homes in the area are selling for at least 350k.*** Also, this deal has lots of red flags including the immediate 30k price drop, the 10-day fast close & the non-refundable 10k EMD.

The rates are higher and points +++ plus prepay for a commercial loan or hard money loan.Loans closed in America are reported and stats are available as to who closed, how many, loan officer, dollar amount, loan type, location and more detail.

The benefit of purchasing in high cost location is the higher building value, thus greater depreciation potential.

Most of my locations are in areas that a store maybe 10 minutes away.