You likely only made a down payment of 3-20% ....but you still get to write it off on the full value across 27.5 years.So 400k/27.5 = 14,000 ish a year of a write off where during the year you didn't need to incur an actual expense, no cash outflow. 

If you are setting aside funds for capex, taxes, insurance, or other expenses that don't occur monthly, transfer those funds to Savings each month and hold them there until it's time to spend them.

-While rent would be more expensive month by month, the idea of being able to take my equity out of my home and also being able to reduce annual repair costs, property taxes, etc. does seem appealing to me. 

Second pro is that you get to lower your living expenses or live "rent free" by having your tenants pay for your mortgage payment.

If you join a brokerage with low or no monthly fees, your annual expenses could be as low as a few thousand dollars.

I've paid for a handful of programs over the years from cheap to expensive and narrow-focused to broad-based. 

I personally would go that route as it would probably be less expensive. 

It shows me the average price of booked vs unbooked properties from my completion that I can choose.

If you can get to 10 over a 20-year period, you will change your life and look like a genius.Increase earnings, reduce expenses, save, and invest.

2) What's the average rent for each property and how many bedrooms?