That is what I call the middle way, do the annual payments and find a tad more  breathing room.  

Understandably, mortgage brokers have a wide breath and depth of lenders in their pocket and would be more knowledgeable but what is the trade off of higher fees rather than searching for my own lender through my local community banks? 

:Unless you plan on spending marketing dollars and going after off market stuff it probably isn't worth it.OMGOMGOMGOMGBreathe Jerryll Breathe.. in- out- out-in..Dude... as investors...

My "quality of life" needs to become more comfortable for me and my family and therefore I must take a second breath and build to leave a legacy behind. 

Buy for appreciation, pay off the mortgages, and breathe easy in your 60's.

Lesson learned is to appreciate life even as you are sucking for that last potential breath.

I needed him like I needed to breathe.

The whole process of breathing new life into and old home or creating something from scratch gives me such fulfillment, it's what I want to do with my life.But I need help with my finances - how can I make my dreams possible when I'm struggling to pay down debt and am barely able to save anything?

Regarding Accounting, I would definitely look at Brandon Hall and Hall CPA - he's a frequent BP contributor, guest on the podcast and lives and breathes real estate.

I am looking for the guys who live and breathe this business with ACTUAL notches on their belts, rather than just completing the latest and greatest seminar (no offense, as I am a rookie too) to evaluate my proposed real estate strategy I'd like to begin implementing this week.