G'Day everyone,There is a rule of life and it goes like this:“Give others what they want and you will get what you want”As corny as this might sound but I have always enjoyed giving more than I do receiving.

apartment or multi unit, you master lease and have an assignable option to buy, you improve cash flow and sell property later@Rich Hupper

If your parents give you money, and it's been in your account for 2-3 months (I can't remember if this is lender-specified or a rule that everyone follows) then it is considered your money not a gift, and you don't have to prove where it came from.

My goal is either to lower my interest rate which will help lower my mortgage payment which helps in increasing my monthly profits or pulling equity to make improvements to the rental and invest in other investment properties.

well assuming it meets the QM rules for owner occ.. etc.the scenario you presented is not a very attractive note unless the discount was HUGEPV is what investor look at.... what rate of return they want and in notes its usually 8 to 12% APR but with 100% leverage most investors will only pay on face value about 60 to 70% LTV ... so right off the top you would be taking a substantial hair cut.No secret what your trying to do.. but I surmise you will very quickly realize its not realistic .. the discount would be such that it makes it a no go.If your thinking someone will lock up their money for 10 years at 5% well thats not going to happen especially at 100% LTV... 

Any special rules for landlords in winter time in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois like ashing walkways or puting salt on those?

If we use the 50% rule, that makes cash flow 7800 per year and that makes cash-on-cash 8.76%.  

A general rule that works in my market at least is if inventory is less than 6 months, it's a sellers market and prices will be higher, the opposite is true of over six months.

@Himanshu JainIt all depends on how aggressive the board is with rentals and it sounds like this Association sticks to the rules. 

It doesn't quite meet the 50% rule but I'm paying it off in 15 years instead of 30 and I could always re-fi or get a HELOC to get some of my cash out if a major expense like a roof or something popped up.