FYI, in case you're wondering, here's a quick explanation as to my thinking when I say that the optimal choice from a mathematical standpoint is to NOT pay down the mortgage: To analyze this, you have to ask yourself a couple questions: First: What is your short-term and long-term downside to buying rental properties right now in Grand Rapids?

The mess around for a few weeks and then as time winds down they end up buying a less than optimal property.

But the kicker that cemented my decision was there wasn’t any optimism from the commercial lenders and that killed my spirit.

I’m just starting out in commercial real estate, so the banks (community banks) are giving me standard rates. (5% interest, 20 year amortization, 5 year balloon payment, with 20-50% down). With these rates I’m having ...

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To get around optimism I usually ask a logical question:"Why not take out a $100K loan, rehab the units yourself, get to 100% occupancy and make back you're $100K?" 

thanks Natalie and Ben for sharing your inputNatalie - to answer your questions, we bought in 2002/3 and rented 2014 , i understand that i would have to pay tax on depreciation , i had heard of 1031 but not the details - i'm not planning on getting anymore rentals so was looking for optimal strategy in this instance

I saw a gorgeous site the other day, and you had to click through the menu to find the form.

There is nothing to chose off the menu, so to speak :) That said, I am not sure how to answer.

@Frank Hennings I think @Russ Draper nailed it with looking to optimizing for the drop-down price fields on places like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc.