On top of "giving your Tenant an inch" before he/she even moves in, I still don't think anyone can conclusively say what the long term effects of vapor in an enclosed spaced are going to be.

I couldn't agree more with your conclusions, thanks for sharing your story.

Sellers and brokers want to see short due diligence times, substantial deposits up front and perhaps an additional deposit at conclusion of due diligence.  

Hi Drew, I have been crunching the numbers and running the projections for my grand entrance into REI early next year in Texas, and basically came to a similar conclusion to flip for cash and buy-n-hold for longer term equity buildup.

From all the reading material and bigger pockets podcast I've come to the conclusion that acquiring leads and learning rehab cost is fundamental to most real estate investing vehicles.

The conclusion I keep coming back to is that I need to find better deals.

Asking people on this site of real estate investors or aspiring investors will likely give you the conclusion that having tenants is definitely worth it. 

As it pertains to the two units downstairs that I usually rent on a long term basis, I've come to the conclusion per guidelines I've read from FHA that they don't care as long as the risk of me AirBnb'ing my own primary residence isn't there. 

Conclusion for me is water usage depends on what you do and the number of people in the house.

Jay Hinrichs points out in podcast 222 that one should pay off their properties sooner than later, in case something unforeseen/bad happens, you have multiple (good) exit strategies.You can still leverage your properties - you can get a HELOC (actually there is no such thing for investment properties, it's called portfolio line of credit or asset based LOC) and you'll be able to use it in case the need appears, without paying interest all the time.Let me know the conclusion you reach.