Its the best way to stretch your capital and scale your portfolio.

If that is the case, then I highly recommend trying to stretch your capital across multiple deals vs putting more than the necessary amount into one deal just to cash flow more on that one deal. 

There are other cash shortfalls that will come up, which you will need to cover, especially if your stretched at the very start.Work on your own living arrangements as your first investment. 

The issue is that the carpet has buckled badly and needs to be re-stretched, a job which shouldn't take more than a few hours.

You could have a 3 year stretch where 1 property has 1 tenant and no repairs.

Given my geographic inability to personally manage the properties and long stretches of not having cell or internet service, I'm calculating 3rd party property management into all my deals.

Not a good combination I'd say-maybe even a lot worse.Don't stretch yourself too thin.

Try 3 houses, 4 if you want to stretch yourself.

Your payoff of the consolidation loan will also bolster your standing with the bank, making it more likely to stretch a point and finance your next project.  

I am American, but I moved outside the states a couple years ago, but I expect to start spending more time back in the PNW in the the next few years, and a stretch goal is to be able to accommodate friends and family when they visit, which should be increasingly frequent.