Huntsville is a great place to invest.

Set up a contracts account at both Lowes and HD. 

If you really like the place but you feel that it is priced too high for your budget, instead of saying “it’s priced too high” and insulting the seller, simply say “I absolutely love your place; it is exactly what I want, and I’d really like to buy it.

So if your interest payment is $1000 then the servicer automatically ACH debits your account that plus the servicing fee (assuming you set up automatic payments as @Christian Ehlers suggests).

I understand that I need to account for taxes, insurance, and other costs—Should I go with a LML and then do a refi later on?  

Purchase price: $187,000 Cash invested: $15,000 Sale price: $259,000 I got tired of moving place to place and worrying about finding roommate, security deposits and not having enough money to deal with maintaining someone elses home.

Quote from @Courtney Dettlinger: Your equity is not a savings account from which you can withdraw for free.

There is well developed  case law that points to a guarantor having to receive a benefit in order for the lender to hold them accountable in the event of a default etc.

For context, I have that policy due to my own religious restrictions as I'm not allowed to have any alcohol at my place of residence.

And Scott's answer would be: because no one who wants to buy a house in those areas has 40,000-50,000 cash sitting in their bank accounts.