Super helpful to get you started.

It's a ton of fun and super scary all at the same time.

I am dabbling in real estate and so far and am super jacked about it, I am also in the process of buying a bigger house (due to a growing family) and plan on renting my current house out which would be enough to make my new house payment. 

I am just trying to decide if it is more advantageous to lock in the tenants first with a new lease before raising rent and then dealing with the rent raise afterwards, or to just get it all done in one swoop.Not sure what the best choice is, as I don't feel super strong either way.

I didn't do a deal with them but the owner, TJ, is super nice and knows the area well. 

I'm super excited to see what kind of response I get from this post and how many people are willing to be guinea pigs for my little experiment!

Thanks @Richard Allen that was super helpful!

I'd encourage you to meet other BP-ers here in Tokyo, like @Bill Baldwin and others, who have been super helpful and really an invaluable source of information and advice.  

There is very little room if any for negotiation unless you are coming in all cash with a super fast closing scheduled. 

Also, we have super high credit scores and should have no problem securing a loan.