There were some hiccups along the way with a seller who was out of country but we stayed patient and today we closed.  

You ever hear the story about the nurse who was so overworked that she spent only 2 minutes on each patient because she had so many patients to see? 

I hope you can get it worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

At the end of the year, go month-to-month, start shopping to buy if you still want to, and patiently but diligently work to find a really good deal ... you can cash out refinance your down payment if you need to and the rentals would still cash flow ... you don't want to rush into a $1M purchase.

I will be patient and wait for the right deal. 

Fortunately the job satisfaction is quite high and family time he gets is important to him. 

Just be patient, make sure you get a good deal with equity & cashflows, and that you can hold through a downturn as this market gets hammered price wise when things turn ... you might have better buying opportunities in a year or so as the market is really hot right now, but educate yourself and start looking now, just make sure you get a good deal before pulling the trigger.

You'll just have to be patient and wait for the right opportunity.

Yes, my sister recently used that one on me.It's akin to the doctor who spends 12 hours in surgery on a heart transplant and when the patient survives, everybody says "Thank God!"  

This is not a quick process so be patient.