If his appraisal comes back low, can I challenge the comps? 

., funding, partnerships, access to deals, vendor recommendations, etc.).

What are everybody's thoughts on using a 401k loan or withdrawal to fund the downpayment?

Would a bank(say like BankofAmer) allow me to assume the low interest rate of another property and blend the interest rate with my current rental property?

HOWEVER, my question is: given our goals/strategy, when analyzing returns for potential deals on the single-family rentals, along with a relatively low cash-on-cash return of roughly 1-2% should we allow ourselves to consider/count on 1) modest appreciation growth of only 3% year over year, 2) expense increases mirroring the current CPI of 3.5% and 3) low rental upside of only 1% (or even 0% given current market conditions).For example, if a deal gives a TOTAL return of roughly 15% year over year for 10 years but only starts out at about 1% cash flow via long-term rents, is this a good idea?

Often direct mortgage banks or lenders have an asset allocation monthly, quarterly or seasonally that they utilize to fund loans that are outside of 'the box' or need specific terms or conditions to qualify.

Keep a large emergency fund for the low times.

Any ideas/thoughts you're trying to do with the cash out refi or just do a HELOC so you can tap into that funds whenever you need instead a full draw for the cash out transaction?

Lots of prime real estate and interesting/unique properties and opportunities and plenty of sellers with a low capital base, willing to owner finance on homes and land. 

If you are deploying large amounts of capital, that spread may be as low as 50 bps (basis points).