Debt is a loaded gun and can do serious harm for those who do not know what they are doing. 

Yield maintenance or defeasance gets very costly very quickly, so taking steps to avoid that are typically prudent, again assuming the business plan calls for a capital event fairly soon.I am also of the stance that you need to see what happens to projected returns if refi does not occur. 

What added to the chaos of this was that it occurred after a renovation so there was a lot of time wasted exploring all the other possibilities when a 100 year old oak sat out front laughing its head off while breaking through the pipes.  

I want to maximize my returns and try and achieve REP status on my tax return, therefore allowing depreciation (and other benefits) to occur as a page 1 item on my tax return. 

If a fire occurs and it is deemed that the wiring that the tenant was complaining about was the source of the fire, then you are liable.Consider bringing out an electrician as an insurance policy.

But he does keep you out of harms way.

You will likely have the most luck with the local credit unions, and smaller regionals versus the large, national banks, but no harm in trying them all.They will both underwrite the asset, as well as you. 

We have now seen that occur at the end of every year since 2012.

@Marian Smith looking at a duplex as a move up from apartments is smart, and didn’t even occur to me.

Or once I add up the closing cost etc- I will have no benefits.In hindsight I shouldn’t have paid off the mortgage and used it for other investments but it’s done and now I like the idea of my home being out of harms way.