no debt? 

There is no requirement for @John Gillick to replace debt with new debt. 

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

If the floating rate debt starts costing too much and there is no capital to replace a rate cap, reserves run out.  

Shop LTV (or cLTV which is combined Loan To Value, basically your first mortgage and 2nd mortgage combined loan to value), rates, payment terms, time to close,  and draw period (how long you can go into and out of your heloc). 

From all of that data, it's abundantly clear to me that any rental that has debt doesn't really cash flow.

The ideal location for your first investment often depends on a combination of factors like budget, market growth, and your personal goals.

The debt to rent income is fantastic, but I understand if the city is not growing.

Or paying off my debt, while I provide them with a nice house to live in instead of an apartment. 

I can buy a 2-4 unit with 20% down vs conventional can only buy a 2-4 INVESTMENT property with 25% down 4. there are options where DSCR loans dont repot to personal credit, helps in not having to show a bunch of paperwork or not one person in a partnership has to carry the debt5. way less paperwork to close on this loan type vs a conventional loan. we care about the income of the property you're buying and it's ability to service the debt of the property whether we use long term rents income, lease income, or air dna/bnb income.6. easily buy in partnerships, add people to your operating agreement, its as easy as that so bring partners into a deal. helps with scaling and raising capital or getting partners involved7. gift funds allowed to close on these as well, and like I said earlier, there's only a 10day seasoning period of funds with some lenders so that means you can literally have a private money lender deposit money into your account 11 days before closing, and you can use those funds to close!