In general these are either growth markets or markets short housing that has significant hurdles to adding additional housing. 

Here's some basic copy & paste info that may help you make better investing decisions:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

But if I decide to pay an extra $2,000 per month, in addition to my (dropping month after month) minimum interest-only payment, when the loan is recast to principal and interest, the new payment will be based on the remaining balance ($396,000) spread over 25 years.

There are also 'mezz' lenders (typically for larger transactions) who will cover up to 90% CLTV and require you to bring the remaining equity to the deal, and additionally there is Gap Funding in the form of unsecured personal debt.The latter can potentially be the most expensive option, but allows for true 100% financing as there are no restrictions for how to use these funds, as they are unsecured, and generally obtained through personal credit, income etc (since there is no collateral for obtaining these funds).

Not enough info to say for sure...If it currently rents for $3,400 and your PITI is $2,500 - net $900.

Mortgage lenders will qualify you for a higher purchase amount for multis than they would on a single, because they will count the rent you will be making on the other units as additional qualifying income for your loan application.

My info is in my profile. 

I wanted to solicit some background info before reaching out to my accountant and she advised similar to your comments. 

That doesn't seem right about having to chase your money - but would need a lot more info to provide a better opinion. also are you investing in one property and is your name secured or you giving an unsecured loan? 

If you are looking to build connections specifically in the DFW metroplex I have been hosting a monthly meetup for the past 3 or so years, id love to connect and get you some more info!