An experienced agent and lender that sit in that niche will provide you a ton of education, and then help you plot out a map for the road ahead. 

Hard to imagine legislation coming out that would harm these folks, especially since these are the very folks with (thanks in part to me and my ilk :P ) lots of money to donate to political campaigns.

Have you gotten any feedback/recommendations on good cost-effective amenities for your STRs? 

I don't believe we want to look at a cash out refi as we do not want to increase monthly payments on the home, effectively negating our rental income.

I’d be more then happy to run up a quote so you can see how it will effect your cash flow and if it is right for you.Let me know if either of you are interested! 

I am wondering if my investment property will effect my ability to be approved for a mortgage on my future primary residence given that timeline, thanks!

with the BRRRR/Flip idea utilizing equity from the home, you are best off to pursue the garage idea but there are a few considerations to take into effect.

So in effect, I may end up paying the same either way but the seller is happy because they get the price they want and I'm happy because I don't have to deal with paying all these closing costs, making a large down payment, and applying for a mortgage.

You will plug this number into your underwriting to see how it affects your returns.For the occupancy question, you can run the Breakeven Occupancy and Default Ratio numbers.Breakeven Occupancy is calculated by adding up the Total Operating Expenses plus Debt Service (mortgage) and dividing it by your Gross Potential Rent.Default Ratio takes the Total Operating Expenses plus Debt Service (mortgage) and dividing it by the Effective Gross Income (Gross Income plus Other Income minus Economic Vacancy including Physical Vacancy, Loss-to-Lease, Concessions, and Bad Debt).Hope this helps.

I definitely think about climate change and it's effects on the country in the long run quite frequently, but much like Tim, haven't considered it much while investing as I too live and invest in MSP.