@Ty Berry welcome to the south....everything is better here - weather, taxes, political climate to name a few.  

Another thing to consider, and I speak from experience with bank-owned properties in colder climates.  

I'm not sure in this political climate you'd be very likely to get more funds for the poor.  

While there is currently a migration towards the Sun Belt, which is great for real estate there for the time being, they were mentioning that the future migration flow will be climate-induced and the best place in the US will be the Great Lakes Area and the city of Chicago as its main center is already preparing for that.

With todays climate...I Can Not Find Anyone To Refi Me Out of My Current HML.

and am nervous about identifying major macro trends like job flow and the current political climate when I don't even yet understand how much a 3 bedroom house goes for and what the rental rates are in different neighborhoods. 

In some locations, especially colder climates, basements are simply very common.1. 

thinning of the herd, b) travel trends are just like the climate, they change constantly and are just part of life. 

Locking in 30yr fixed rate in this interest rate climate seems like a smart move.I will keep calling around to see what other lenders can do.Thanks for the input.

Our plan is to install ~600 indoor, climate controlled lockers.