You have to put up with some weirdness to deal with that, but if you only have a small number of rentals and you can't handle more than a little weirdness, you're an undercapitalized enterprise.Whatever you decide to do, if it involves your mother-in-law going to this property at the beginning of the month every month to pick up a large cash payment and carry it away with her, it's probably a bad strategy.

For a home that's temporary (ie live in one year before renting), the location is less critical, but the price (ie downpayment) and the ability to cash flow carry more weight.

always great not to carry any debt at all imo keep grinding and saving get a couple more rentals and keep that cash flow rolling in!

So, this time, one of us has to keep our day job to provide a safety net while the other nurture the business.  

That means you establish a Traditional LLC to carry out the operations of your investments, in order to separate the liability from your assets, including: paying property management, paying contractors, collecting rent, marketing, etc.

Purchase price, Rehab costs, Operating Costs (incl. sale closing and carrying costs), Sale Price, and Profit. 

@Monica JohnsonLook into smartkey by kwikset, all the big box stores carry them.

Some lenders will take 50% of the rental income and add it to your annual income and then include the full carrying costs of the new mortgage into your debt.Other lenders will use what is called an 80% rental offset.

If he can carry a second small mortgage and you have the bulk in cash, just listen. 

Bottom line its investor trust and faith in your ability to operate that carries the day