Do you just do a typical loan/mortgage with a bank and use money in your savings account to put a down payment.Just trying to figure out what is the best method to put a down payment.

Am I, as the owner, responsible for pests that may or may not exist outside of the house and are brought into the house by the Tenant's dogs?

Just like a mortgage has

@Jay Hinrichs anything with QCDs and Reverse Mortgages?

Ronald Rohde   It does exist. 

In hindsight, this probably wasn't the right way to look at this, but we were counting on the cash flow from the rentals to offset some of the mortgage payments on our current home.

If it was mortgages or low interest loans could be different.

Many prospective buyers don’t want to pay large mortgage payments on a home listed at market value and they know enough about home renovations that they can rehab it themselves and have exactly what they want in a home and can have a small payment on it if it is purchased this way. 

Ideally tho it good to have at least 6 months of reserves in terms of overall mortgage payments.

@Brandon JaThere is not one but what you could track is the 10 year treasury https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage-rates/30yr-treasuries