I thought with rentals to military personnel, the housing allowance that covers the rent can be paid directly to the landlord. 

purchase price:  $243,000I got the seller to pay $5000 to cover part of my closing cost.  

I think I’m in agreement with several other folks in that I would love to hear an entire episode devoted to strategy #6, unless of course, being a far less experienced newbie, it’s already beeen covered.

Get the bank to loan on a property that needs work, and cover the rehab myself.Hard money loan...

When establishing your core 4 ( agent / lender / contractor / mgmt co. ) how large of an area can they cover before their expertise becomes diluted?

Some benefits are that the loan can cover much higher loan amounts in comparison to an FHA loan which may have county limits, among other things. 

The numbers don't "quite" work - if we occupy one unit and rent the other only ~70% of the mortgage is covered but that's 70% that I can save towards property #2.

That’s not a problem if you leave it alone or cover it with more siding but if you have to tear it down you’ll pay a premium for asbestos.  

I like that BP has all the bases covered with ways to consume the content and interact with the community!

Depending on the cost of the home hopefully the rent from one side covers the entire mortgage if not more!