I am glad you put a lot of emphasis on damage control if there was to be a market downturn, as well as how to specifically insulate yourself to cover any unseen costs or market dips, i.e. sweat equity.

I don't sell but must renew every few years with emphasis on new commonwealth and local laws.

I put a pretty big emphasis that I was just looking for a house in the area, and thought I could help before the bank gets involved, so it's mutually beneficial, etc...

I would state that this is one of the reasons that most landlords here on BP do not place as great an emphasis on credit scores, but emphasizing rental history is a different story.

All emphasis added is mine.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on credit score.

In 20 years, manhattan will still be the same size (maybe smaller depending on your stance on global warming).

When business people get that wrong is invariably where you see their businesses fail, not to mention global economies.People pay rent.

Some points of emphasis might beFHA loans require owner occupancy in at least one of the units (there may be loopholes around this but if there are, I am unaware)If you are planning on taking advantage of the lower down payment an FHA loan may allow, you will want to factor in PMI into your cash flow analysis until you reach less than 80% ltv.

So basically, I just kept recycling the same money over and over, with an emphasis of buying undervalued properties, that I could pull more equity out after each refi.