No problem, we'll look for smaller, cheaper houses. 

Cheaper and easier to maintain. 

Finding another contractor, cutting costs somewhere in the job, and finding cheaper money (doing it all cash). 

Duplex can always add additional units via the ADU laws. 8) Related to number 1, purchasing a property with an existing ADU is cheaper than buying a property and adding an ADU.

you said:"Keep ~200K and try to buy some cash flowing rentals in a much cheaper out of state market.

gotcha things are just much cheaper in Texas when it comes to infrastructure then what we deal with..

It would probably be cheaper to have materials dropped on the lot from above by a CH53 than to have them carried in lol.

it typically takes a few years just to recover the closing costs. those are the types of things that get sugarcoated / ignored and they shouldn't be.3 separate recent sources show that it is cheaper to rent than buy at high LTV in virtually every market.  

Commercial loans and conventional loans will always be cheaper than a DSCR. 

There's plenty of hair stylist between here and there - and I would be some are cheaper than others too.