How's your experience been thus far?

Clue:  One of the options gets you a free roof. 

There are definitely pros and cons to each so I figured I would just lay out a few benefits and personal thoughts: Small banks/brokerages:Pros:- Some regional knowledge of the market- Possibility of more creative lending guidelines with bank specific programs- Sometimes they have competitive rates for their areaCons: - weak balance sheet (more strict on some guidelines, no wiggle room, inability to be flexible or grant exceptions because they cannot afford to hold less than perfect loans)- Can't scale with clients to different markets- Usually limits exposure to individual investors (they don't want one investor to be too big of a portion of their balance sheet)- Lack of experience with multiple solutions (tend to have 2 or 3 loan products they sell and are too niche to provide tailored solutions)Large banks/brokerages:Pros:- Large compliance departments that understand individual market guidelines (typically each state has specific lending guidelines that augment the national baseline)- Ability to scale into multiple markets with same lender (licensed in many states)- Impossible for individual investors to "outgrow" a large bank's balance sheet (not concerned with one investor's concentration)- More lending solutions available for different scenarios- Often comparable or better rates given the game is volume basedCons:- Can be more difficult to get fast responses if the bank/brokerage does not have good follow up systems in place (or if the underwriting/processing staff gets overwhelmed)- Bad large banks can feel less like a relationship and more like a cog in a factory (less personal)Overall, I have worked from both and worked with both as a loan officer, branch manager, and as an investor/client myself. 

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need assistance as you evaluate the local markets.

I haven't done this as this is going to be my very first property, please feel free to ask any questions:Potential Rental Income: $1000/- month (Right now through housing, but rent is due for increase)Taxes: $2600/-Utilities Water/Sewer: $800/- (Rest of the utilities are paid by tenant)Purchase Price: $124,900/-

Please feel free to argue if I'm wrong.On the same subject, where would one find a list a people back on their mortgage payments?

And the time it was your primary residence (tax free up to the $500K exclusion).   

Well, they did fix it free of charge and I appreciate them owning up to their own error. 

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

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