At some point with rent growth that would reduce, but might take around 7 years to reach that point at 3% rent growth.Is there anyway to better justify a purchase like this? 

You would skip from loan, and could make a bit more ( or reduce cost).This is the only way i see viableGood luck

For example, show someone the math for how that $400/mo car payment reduces their buying power by $100k or so, and stop talking... all of a sudden there's a brilliant idea (THEIR brilliant idea) to pay the car off (and it was with another $25k that moments ago they told me did not exist).

@Mike Jacovelli sounds like you need to start reserving your real estate conversations, and time and energy, for more encouraging people.Have you attended a real estate Meetup in your area?

It’s not the best for curb appeal but it will help lower energy cost.

I ran some calculations and we could get by for the next few years with my husband reducing his income down to $50k a year (about half what he's making now).

Or did you just find a way to reduce your liability costs.

You could submeter utilities and have tenants pay their own thus reducing that expense, and unless the landscaping is really nice, you could likely make the tenants responsible for that as well.As to your reasons1.

Ask him what scope of work he could have done for whatever reduced fee you would have needed to offer what it sold for.

I want to structure it in such a way that we are paid back so that the loan balance can be reduced quickly.