Not everything has to be logical and strictly numeric and fully optimized at the end of the dayThank you again and Best of Luck to you!

Check out the podcasts, blogs, and books mentioned under the "Learn" category on the menu bar at the top.  

My day job is in A/B testing websites and doing conversion rate optimization to get more revenue/purchases from people visiting websites. 

Utilise the available resources(contacts, podcasts, meetups etc) to optimize learningAll the best forward

Your potential income with additional costs is your best case, optimal scenario.

I also have ~60k saved upI've absorbed approximately 30 hours of REI podcasts/videos in the last week, mostly from BPs YouTubeStrengths: Analyzing deals, rehab/interior design, optimizing processes, project management, probably landlording (used to manage my mom's property in OC)Weaknesses: New, temporarily lives far away, don't know what I don't knowThoughts so far:Brandon Turner's haircut in yesterday's (10/21/20) webinar was SHARP!

Depending on your tax profile, you may be eligible for a Solo 401k, which is the optimal self-directed retirement account for real estate investing. 

Hoping to optimize our tax savings with cost segregation bonus depreciation and utilize the tax code to its fullest advantage.

Hoping to optimize our tax savings with cost segregation bonus depreciation and utilize the tax code to it's fullest advantage. 

The level of financial sophistication it take to optimize both leverage and cash is a bridge to far for most on this site, so while I agree with your position that cash is better than debt, I think you are in the minority of investors who frequent this site when it comes to having that capital structure.