However, I did forget about the "same value or higher property purchase" part of it.

@John R Bongiovanni Aside from those services, I have done a lower security deposit in exchange for a higher rent on a long term tenant and they were fine with that.

There are quite a number of things that can make utilizing an FHA loan more difficult such as more barriers during appraisal, appearance of low qualification/little cash, typically longer closing period, likely higher interest rate, and PMI cannot be dropped without a refinance if 3.5% down.That said, just chain 5% down conventional loans, and make sure your duplexes pay for themselves.  

If your "small Multi" is a 5 unit or higher disregard everything I've written here LOL!

There is no point refinancing the almost paid off property to buy another-just get a mortgage on the new property.hard money lenders are going to charge you a higher interest rate.

Why not use the higher end of the estimate and once you are serious about putting in an offer contact your broker then?

Typically max leverage is 70CLTV - very higher Prepayment penalties and be ready for rates north of 12% - I answer this question all the time.

A higher LTV generally requires a higher DSCR ratio such as 1.25 instead of 1.

The profit was used to buy a higher quality SFH in the same area.

Other notes: - Higher density multi family properties can be very hard to secure on the coast, but very profitable.