It further illustrates the point that it's really hard to pull off a BRRRR without the tailwind of decreasing rates and/or market appreciation. 

Of course, no one knows for sure, but it seems the FED deferred interest rate decreased.

80% of traditional mortgage payment is interest regardless .You'd rather be locked into a rate rather than it consistently floating . helocs can also be locked or decreased at anytime by the lender 

Forced Apperception (BRRRR or buying at a discount) allows me to build in equity from the beginning of the investment in case I need to fire sale the property for an unforeseeable reason.Debt-Paydown and Tax-Benefits are just a result of owning real estate and can be more-or-less predicted over a time period.

I'm doing well recently with a conservative dividend focused ETF that's giving 10%,  with very little price growth or decrease. 

This can worsen your situation because, although your rental income decreases, your payment remains unchanged.

Is there a chance that rates and prices decrease in the next 1-4 years as our cash reserves increase, thus creating a better scenario for us first time investors?

Therefore, I would ensure that the current NOI is accurate based on YOUR assumptions, then you can think about how you can increase the NOI by increase revenues or decreasing costs over the coming years IF you were the owner.

would hurt anything would be it might decrease the number of types of debt you have but I’d just be happier to have less debt and work on building up your credit score in other more positive ways like paying off some credit cards if you have balances on any of them.

//cash Nathan - I'm curious to learn more about your position on appreciation and decreasing home values.