We are not the right choice for everyone, but we do help hundreds of investors every year start and progress their investing goals.

My current APR is 3.375%.I could get ~$1,400 - $1,900 in rent and that's conservative and my current mortgage is ~$1,100.The property could appraise for ~$225,000 and the outstanding principal is ~$178,000.I honestly would prefer to move if the new property had more sqft.

@Eric L ConryThis is a highly personal choice.

I’d recommend starting with a property that needs little/cosmetic work that can be rented from day one, and preferably has existing tenants.

Ask multiple people on and off BP (preferably people who are no biased). 

At the beginning, it may be difficult to get a more expensive property that will appreciate well and so your choice is go with the cheaper property and get cash flow until you can sell and upgrade, or wait for a really good deal which you may be waiting for quite a while and its possible that you will have spent so much time waiting that you could have purchased multiple cash flowing properties by the time you get a good appreciation deal that you can qualify for / refinance after the rehab. i know anyone can go out and get seller financing deals, HML, flip to build capital or whatever the case may be I am just saying sometimes those will be harder and could result in less deals overall. 

If you dont have a great team to work with you can lose your shirt even if the house is next door to where you live... there are lots of great areas but only a limited number of great teams so our final choice has always been team driven... saying that we look for an area where there are lots of opportunities  and rental houses available in good areas using the 2 % rule  we found this in Detroit and Toledo  more then willing to share what we do and what we have learnt over the years

However, some investors don't mind this strategy if they prefer not to put a lot of liquid in up front and plan to refi out within a few years of closing (which seems to be a great option with the talks of the FED reducing interest rates this year).It really comes down to investing in a growing market, in a good neighborhood & building a great team to support you.

I always prefer to use a CPA who works with other investors and Realtors such as myself.

Using LVP was a smart choice—it holds up well when wet and is cost-effective to replace.