There is a risk the agent will "tickle your ears" with good news just to earn compensation from the purchase or management.

You can always pay it down on a 15-year timeline, but not be locked into the larger payments if things go awry. 

Yes, they were trying to charge us until they were able to get the new lock on there.

I have a military seller who locked in at a flat 3.0% interest rate on a new construction home several years ago. 

That's mortgage fraud.If they don't have equity to tap and don't have the cash to lock in a new home first, they'll have to sell their old home first and the buy something.Lenders look at debt to income ratios (DTI), if the some total of the old mortgage and the new mortgage goes over a certain %, which is based on the type of loan they're looking for, they can't get the loan.

He has money he is looking to invest and I have more experience than him and have done a lot more reading and research than him, even if I am still pretty wet behind the ears.

So new locks are perhaps reimbursable, but new kitchen cabinets would probably not be.You need to look at the applicable Alabama law for tax sales.One of the first things you should do is also ask for proof of ownership.   

I was thinking of purchasing a plex and live in one unit and have the other unit's rent cover a good amount of the mortgage.I've been getting some mixed signals on buying vs renting, and hopefully some experts can share their insights on it.Some of the arguments that I've received for renting first is:I don't really know the areas in Seattle, and buying a property will lock me down in a long and big investment.

windows should open, close, lock and have screens

Lastly...just take the art out and dont worry about it.or ... put it in a closet that locks while you rent it.