Will having that home on our credit negate us from being able to seek additional loans for other properties? 

If they require additional cleaning time because of a pet, they are compensated for that extra time.It sounds like you pay your cleaners $150 every time.

All of that said, I would treat this tenant as month-to-month and enforce the 60 day notice requirement meaning that they are responsible for an additional 30 days of rent beyond their anticipated move-out date.

As a homeowner, I can’t help but feel a bit hopeful that home prices may decline, making it easier for us to purchase additional properties.

Additionally, Stockton is currently experiencing a slight shift towards a buyer’s market, which could impact your decision to rent out versus sell.

Additionally, the work must require the tenant be out of the unit for at least 30 consecutive days in order for the work to be safely completed.

Liquidity is needed to close the loan and having lots of additional liquidity may help you to get an exception, but it will not make up for experience or a low FICO entirely. 

Beyond the formal checklists: no evictions, 3-4x income to rent, prior landlord references, employment checks; I would also look at things like responsiveness to communication when we are setting showing, were they on time to showing, did they look me in the eye and shake my hand, did they show up to showing high?

Seller would only need additional $41,000 leaving space of $54,000 between my offer price and what seller gets.

I would consider buying a duplex, tri or quad as a primary residence and move into one of the units and rent out the others.You could sell your primary and use the capital, or pull the HELOC and use to buy a small multifamily.You can also learn how to flip properties to generate additional income to use to buy properties to hold longer term.You can also consider looking into a job in the real estate industry, such as an analyst, broker, lender ,etc that can get you in the gameAll the bestGino