@JaNae Anderson, if you do go out of state it would definitely help to try have boots on the ground in whichever state you decide to invest in.

My goal is to steadily grow my portfolio by 6-20 doors per year for the next few years, whichever my financing allows. 

@Jason MartinezI am a GC and there are laws in California on how much a GC is allowed to ask for and that is 10% or 1k whichever is less.

It should be noted that whichever route you choose for financing, be it hard-money, a private lender, a bank, or an equity partner, it is unlikely that you will be able to finance the entire deal (even if a seller 2nd is involved).

Anyway good luck whichever way you go.

I would do whichever option you can that gets you the most property for the last of of pocket and has tenant payments coming to you,  not your payments (rent) going to pay for someone else's mortgage.  

In other words, why use all your cash to buy one when it's more than possible to buy at least two leveraged out.Feel free to reach out if you have any questions and best of luck on whichever route you decide!

I'm hoping to get a solid 9-5 as soon as I'm back to at least give me a few months' worth of paystubs to go off of for whichever route I DO end up taking. 

As to refinancing, that loan is based on the sale price or appraised value, which ever is lower, in this case the sale price.

i'm in NH now. going to AZ or FL in the winters.. so not sure which of the 3 states I want to purchase property in. .i'm guessing whichever one will net me the most $$ on my rentals :)