@Nando NachiYour budget will dictate where you buy in in the Seattle Market.Plenty of areas on the rise especially with low inventory.With Condo, keep in mind some HOAs will have to weight in on structural changes.When it comes to schools, most buyers laser in on the school district.

To see how you are with being a landlord again, then gradually scale from there. with the remaining cash on hand, you always have the option to pay it off whenever you'd like or keep it on hand for any repairs/ maintenance that comes with being a landlord.  

That is a huge weight off my shoulders. 

Thanks Its a similar concept to Weighted Average Least Term (WALT) you want to know 95% of "what" a 95% occupancy of all 10x10s still isn't meaningful if those last units are crap locations and won't ever be rented

Rent out your units at, or slightly below, the market rate and gradually increase rents YOY (2-2.5%).This strategy will allow you to get your foot in the door with a low down payment AND less competition.

I don't think in this market I would be putting much weight into the 1% rule.

For those who feel comfortable living with roommates or who want to get into real estate investment gradually, house hacking SFR is an excellent alternative since it enables you to start small and live in one unit while renting out the others.

I agree, the term itself seems to have been the result of backroom jargon as any pool sold or collateralized will be based in part on the WAM, Weighted Average Maturity of the obligations.

  ^ To touch on this point, Jerome Powell just recently said this exact thing as one of his two trains of thoughts:To hold rates longer, and put some weight on it OR to jump up it quicker and hit it down hard faster. 

Then gradually increase to beat the market.If that doesn’t happen, your listing will drop in the rankings and it becomes much harder to gain traction.