If your goal is to scale while minimizing your initial out-of-pocket expenses, consider searching for off-market value-add opportunities via investor lift, or local wholesalers.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.You evicted these tenants, but you kept a relative and allowed the evicted tenants to return for visits.

However, it's also important to compare fees between lenders to make sure you're truly looking at them apples to apples.

Is this a building you see yourself owning for an extended period of time and/or if you were to sell the building will there be a satisfactory return on the heavy lift capex  investment that's necessary?

But if you buy four $200K houses then it's apples to apples and you're not going to fall behind.For what it's worth, I'd be concerned that if you over extend yourself buying a primary home you'll create a larger scale issue than just being house poor.

I've found success in passive investing as a means to learn the industry since my money is put to work but more experienced sponsors are doing the heavy lifting and I can learn from everything they're doing.

If you're a one-man army, let some of this automated technology do the heavy lifting so you can be the problem solver for that motivated seller. 

To give you a bit of background, I know very little about bookkeeping beyond managing my budget for the last three decades (ugh), so this is all pretty new to me.Here’s my current setup:I’ve had a property management company using AppFolio to handle the heavy lifting – rent collection, owner distributions, expenses, and the whole shebang.

I work with a large group and we help people start investing passively as an LP, I've found it's a great way to get started because you can watch and learn with much of the risk removed since the experienced sponsors are doing the heavy lifting.

Unless there is significant equity in the property 50% LTV may not be enough to payoff the current underlying mortgage.Now here are the exceptions to lift the COB 50% limited LTV restriction:- you inherit the property and it was transferred into your name either via legal award from a domestic partnership/marriage - you have been on title for 24 + months- you took title to the property that was transferred from a partnership or partnership like entity (LLC, LP, etc) that you can document the ownership of 25% or more in- you lived in the property and have been on title for atleast 12 months as a primary residence- you have paid the mortgage for atleast 12 months - or you can demonstrate a relationship with the obligator (domestic partner, relative, family member, etc. )If you qualify for one of the exceptions you are not limited to the 50% max LTV  when considering fannie/freddie conventional cash out refinances on a subject to transaction.