One of my goals i hope to achieve from investing (long term) is to be able to afford to take a trip to Ireland to meet my distant relatives at some point. 

@Sean Carroll's thoughts are going to be shared by a whole lot of investors in the area, flippers and landlords alike, and that's definitely a great piece of advice. 

Assuming our DTI allows it, we can pull out $200K and maintain an 80% LTV on the property.We've known this whole time that this property was worth it, but this kind of outside validation feels amazing.

If you plan on managing remotely, you may have a whole host of issues that may not have been considered, for example if a blender breaks how do you handle that situation.Best success!

Bank already knew that I would occupy 51% of the space and another tenant (previous one different tenant from the current one that occupy the whole building) would occupy 49% of the space. 

Then you have the whole sale portfolio market where they will do no doc, no asset, no income verification etc., but comes at an even higher cost. 

Different investors have different risk/reward profiles and that's what drives the whole range of the market. 

I don't hate my job, but am looking to use it as a way to pay off my student loans and then fund my investment portfolio.I am very interested in real estate as a method to grow wealth and achieve financial freedom (like everyone on BP). 

The most basic and logical explanation for something is often correct, but proving it can be a whole other ballgame.

The banks ive been to all tell me that "the co-borrower must occupy the house" which doesnt make a whole lot of since to me.