The bonus was also picking up a little square footage in an upstairs bedroom by removing the fireplace which allowed a better set up in that room.

Talk to other investors in your market and determine who they use to hit their targets.

Appreciate the encouragement and I may need to buy you coffee in the future and pick your brain some!

That said, I'm sure there are plenty of TK folks that are totally professional so I'm not picking on them--just speculating on the source of the OP's experience as described in the post.

I’d practice by going on HAR and finding a home that fits your criteria and then determining “your” purchase price.

Join some free REI clubs, find a mentor, make a plan, make some goals....Inventory current assets to see if your goals are realistic.I would start by finding a mentor and setting some goals to determine which direction to go in.

They should be determined first and then whether to refinance or not would best be decided by which way moves you closer to your goals faster.

To your question, I'm of the mindset you should analyze house hacking investments as though it was a straight rental investment to determine if it's a good deal or not, main criteria being return on investment and whether it cashflows.

Knowing the specific locations will allow me to determine the contact.

They might even call it "self-directed" which means that you can direct or pick the investments but only within their boundaries of investment options.