Your biggest problem is you're paying 15 to 25K too much for the property with that little rent.

The only downside to them, and i don't know if it's typical or not, is the fact that they have to sell the carpet in rolls of 12x12.

We get into trouble when we focus on just the upside or the downside to the exclusion of the other.Congrats on your find.

In other words, does it matter where the biggest chunk of our money lies, whether it be in the home we live in or the one we rent out?

I want to know the financial ins and out on purchasing my first property as well as how to find the right home that will yield the biggest profit. 

Looks like the biggest problems with my proposed deal structure is finding private investors to take a 3rd position and a broker willing to give me a loan with none of my own money down plus the fact that I don't have experience. 

Harry Dent has talked about this for years and his take is that the last real estate values to fail are going to be the high end properties in the biggest cities.

One of your biggest expenses is or will be housing costs.

I guess my biggest issue now is making the first move.

Hi, @Ben Roberts.I agree with @Curt Davis, @Alex Craig, and @Dean Letfus.Your downside seems to be protected in many ways.I don't know if you've bought your first buy & hold yet, but this sounds like a good way to test the waters.