I have my personal emergency fund stored away in a HYSA, and am working to build up a15k property reserve as well, but am conflicted on where to keep that 15k. 

That said, realistically, I don't think you can go below the 6% - 6.5% range.One question I would ask is if that 3% can be better spent somewhere else to de-risk your deal.

Taking the risk of a tenant while you yourself are renting is not optimal in my opinion.

This level of scrutiny drastically reduces the risk of renting to unreliable tenants.Realtors vs.

The lower the score, the higher the risk and the more we charge for a deposit.

Source , but for the ones that are that could be a risk if Trump and DOGE's plans to cut those jobs ends up reducing a significant amount of the jobs in DC.

We are starting to explore options for buying his shares to eliminate him as a risk and a roadblock but still have funds leftover for growth.

That said, if you feel you want to go above and beyond, then could could try contacting some of these apartment complexes directly and confirm her story with them but if you can easily find another qualified applicant why would you take on this work and additional risk.

I would read up on the risks before collecting rent with those tools.

It sounds like you have an un-permitted unit, which is essentially always a risk since there has been no notice to the AHJ that it exists and they can therefore initiate a code case to have it removed in most cases.