@Jennifer Marshall if it is a smaller counter top, sometimes you can get granite cheap if they have a small piece on the slab they are trying to get rid of.

2nd piece is the house hack...We think best course of action would be to have an investor friend we know buy the house in cash, once we are done with renovations, we then take out a full mortgage on the house to cover whatever he paid for it and then pay him back with some interest.

I keep hearing bits and pieces about a rental strategy that is best called "Renting to the Disabled by the Room for Above Market Rent" that goes something like this: (1) Buy a house with as many legal bedrooms as you can that still has a decent sized common area, (2) rent it out to the relatively high functioning disabled crowd, (3) via some [unnamed] Government program the State pays above market rents for each of the tenets. (4) Send a house keeper 1-2 times per week to ensure the place stays clean and otherwise make sure there are no issues.The up side is: you get above market rent with a much higher than average tenant count.

My house is not 100 years old and has wood siding on it.I replaced a couple of pieces from dry rot 6 months ago and now I have a couple more pieces.

Not trying to scare you, but if it happens don't be surprised.And my other piece of advice...although some here may agree, never lease a unit to a new tenant before the previous tenant moves out.

I am quickly realizing it's difficult to find 1) properties which meet the 1% test, and 2) properties which cash flow positive from year 1 (unless we increase our down payment from 3.5% to something much higher).I would like to get two pieces of advice from the Bigger Pockets community in Massachusetts.

@Dale RastThis is an intentional hit piece. 

This impacts the financing piece.

Do any of you send direct mail pieces  to cash buyers?

It is due to a converted garage - a 14x14' piece was added without a permit 20 years ago- and the code officer just discovered it in 2017.