It is a place to park capital and earn a return on it.If your dream is to generate income in the Real Estate field you could look at becoming a Realtor.

If things went south with the SO, would I have any extra rights to the ownership of the house if I am able to show proof that I have been the "breadwinner" and paying for the house mostly on my own?

The cost of HML is much higher than the “extra tax” you pay.

Yes, it is an extra fee, $125 or so that would show up in your closing cost statement.

If you can swing the extra payments due to the shorter repayment period this may be a much better way to go.

And it will allow me to earn extra income to help purchase more investment properties. 

Take the 3rd floor, and the extra flight of stairs and make more money!

The funny part is at the closing table he jokingly said "I wish there was something I could do with these fund to earn a decent return". ;-).More to the point of what specifics of what to be aware of are I know I have read on here that there are different ways to title/deed/etc.... things that can make it more beneficial to the seller or buyer if things come down to a foreclosure - learn those.

We just like that Indy has the extra benefit of being a great city, going through a really nice renaissance!  

I’m assuming you are trying to get some extra clicks/votes by this title.