For $10K and a lower rate I'd be willing to consider delaying...but only if I knew that lender two was solid on closing in a relatively short timeframe.

Since I have a fixed-rate mortgage, I understand this wouldn’t lower my monthly payment but would shorten the loan term by reducing the principal faster.

Hi Ken, I would say in the vast majority putting down 25% on an investment property is the safest way but there are ways to put a lower down payment and sometimes little to no money out of pocket. 

When they do, you can refinance to a lower rate.Dealing with current high interest rates (about 7% on 01/27/2025) you have the following choices:A larger down paymentAccept a negative cash flowBuy down the interest rateCombine and balance all three to get an acceptable cash flow today.

In category after category, larger condos and higher price ranges are selling better than smaller condos and lower price ranges. 

So in that a much lower rate of return is acceptable given the safety and certainty level of things. 

This does not align with buying most buildings in cash.Once you progress in your investing efforts you may come across more UHNW individuals, family offices and institutions who would take the lower return for limiting risk (all cash deal).

I'm also considering Halethorpe because it's a good commuter location.Some people really like supporting the city in which case , northeast Baltimore would seem to the best place to buy a single family, in my opinion given the taxes situation and given that none of those areas are walkable I’d rather just be in the county and pay Lower taxes, and it’s not like northeast Baltimore is much that much cheaper than Baltimore county, hathorpe is mixed, arbutus is nice, I hate the housing stock there, would rather be in Catonsville if I was considering western Baltimore county. 

There's a lot of suckers who attend these sales, particularly for the lower priced properties and that's precisely who you don't want to be bidding against.

I get a new tenant at a LOWER rent, ALWAYS late, and then ... the septic tank GOES TO HELL