I find that cash flow is very important so that I don’t have to come “out of pocket” to pay for major improvements / repairs  

The least states:"Tenant shall pay a "late charge" not in excess of five (5%) percent of the amount in arrears for each month the arrears remain unpaid if any Rent is paid more than ten (10) days after the due date thereof, to cover the extra expense involved in handling delinquent payments.

I got tired of paying to live in other people’s homes.

We had 5k left on the grant money that we still owed, but we ended up paying it through the HELOC.

I'd suggest not paying anyone for mentorship.

Debt pay down and appreciation is gravy.Is this serious or sarcasm?

Usually when a landlord cannot find qualified tenants but are getting a fair amount of inquiries there's an underlying real estate problem and the qualified tenants simply do not want to live in that location.

Never should you be paying 2.5 points on an FHA product.

that will not cash flow - you won't be generating "cash flow" from the property that will go beyond servicing the debt and allow you to pay down any principal. 

I emphasized the quick closing timeline and my ability to pay cash via hard money financing to strengthen my offer.