On the other hand, I’m hesitant to simply pay down more of a property, as we don’t need the immediate cash flow.Fortunately, both my wife’s job and mine are recession-proof, which allows us to be a bit more aggressive with our investments.I’d really appreciate advice from investors who have experience with frequent moves or military service.

Im not advocating for this, but simply stating that it is the norm for whatever reason.

You have made a number of assumptions that may simply not be true.

Considering that, you are likely going to see appreciation year over year, which essentially will be additional equity you'd capture just by simply living in the home. 

Quote from @Aaron T.: Quote from @Caleb Christopher: I use OnePoint Lending as the servicer for our seller finance and wraparound deals (www.onepointlending.com).

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And the fact that your post had at least three votes for it when I posted this shows that there are lots of other people who would probably be losing in PA under those same assumptions that just happen to be FALSE in Pennsylvania.Pennsylvania has some rather complicated rules when it comes to tax sales; the particular type of sale that the OP purchased at is one that does not divest any liens; it simply changes the party that is the owner, with the new owner taking title subject to all liens and encumbrances of record.With tax sales, the buyer must be aware of all the local rules under which the tax sale is being conducted, because the rules vary all over the place.Now, what the OP seems to have failed to do in his research was to cross index the recordings at the county recorder; the "missed" mortgage would have showed up on a search by parcel number if that sort of cross check was done (and assuming all indexed documents at the recorder are properly indexed of course - I have seen mistakes made attaching a document to the wrong parcel).

We are t protected at renewal time. 

You simply disclose your license to the Buyer and then use the correct documents and verbiage, you're fine. 

So when my clients work with me, I simply guide them through the process of originating their own loan (legally, in the states that allow it).