Set a goal to be financially free by a young age.

@Travis HauserIf I were in your shoes with young children (I'm assuming pre-school age) I would buy my first rental property (sfh or small multi) as an owner occupant - Live there for a few months or a year and move to your second rental property as an owner occupant - repeat as often as possible - Once your kids are school age, this will become less attractive because you will want to keep the kids in the same schools

You may see some effect due to age of credit history but probably not enough to take your score down to where you are seeing negative impact in your interest rate.As @Anton Ivanov correctly stated you will want to have a game plan for how to handle your DTI.

Leases must contain a notice advising tenants that, upon written request by the tenant, the owner is required to provide, install and maintain window guards in dwelling units with children 10 years of age or younger."

(obviously)I want to take care of my aging parents who will need me soon, and im just starting out.

A very seasoned investor will have a different response than a seller with emotional ties to the property.If the house is in great shape, top of the market range for size/age/quality,  sellers are usually only concerned with price and who is most likely to get to the closing table...On the opposite end of the spectrum, if the property has condition issues, then it comes down to who is able to take on that burden (cash/203(k)) and get to the closing table.If competing with regular buyers, waving inspection/financing contingencies and buying with cash can make a difference, but that also depends on how deep of a discount you're trying to get.If competing with cash buyers on a distressed property, you pretty much don't have a choice but to wave contingencies and come in with a decent offer.

Mindy it really depends on the definition of the acitivity one is embarking on .if the definition of wholesaling is:put a property under contract and you have NO money to close and you have sent out marketing that your an all cash buyer and will close in 10 days.Then you get into contract and put said property on crag's list with a full description of bed bath sq foot age etc.. along with pictures and advertise it for sale at a certain price. 

Those between age of 35-44 lost an average of 53% of their net worth during the same period.4.Median family income dropped 7.7% during the same period from $49,600 to $45,8005.

Kids in adulthood have a RESPONSIBILITY that is engrained in them from a very young age, to support the elders in the family, to put their needs in front.Unfortunately in the US, children are entitled, rude, and unrealistic from an early age.

My feelings are if you have $100K sitting in an IRA and under the age of 59 ½ why not cash out and pay the penalties having more flexibility with the cash?