At this point, I think I've maxed out my ability to use that loan vehicle unless I were to sell or refinance my other properties. 

People here on the South Shore do it frequently and often have multiple takers.one of my telemarketers husband was a fisherman in Alaska.. and he just got his first captions position.something was wrong down in the freezer we went down there to check It out and exactly as you described he perished.I was thinking these were like little co 2 thingees you put in a pellet gun:)  if they are big tanks I bet you can recycle them somewhere. 

For rental properties, I would just use cash and then refinance or use bank leverage in the first place.

I bet Jay knows more about than me.

Now of course multi units are different than this and every market is different but for the deal I explained above is a total equity refinance play for me in this tough market I’m in.

I am focused on using private/hard money to purchase the house outright and then refinance to pay back the private/hard money lender. 

Would end up spending more monthly on rent than the current mortgage though.It also just occurred to me that I could refinance and get some cash out.

so this means the appraisal for the refinance part of the brrrr may come in too low if i move forward with this plan.of course on the other hand the tiny bedroom is wasted space that nobody will occupy. prospective tenants who need 3 bedrooms will not apply and my time showing this unit to them will be a waste. i do plan to hold this house for at least 10 years. so i am leaning toward doing this in an effort to make it easier to rent and keep tenants.

With out all the competition in the metro area, Absentee Owners could be a pretty good bet since you won't run into as many investors mailing to them. 

My next step is to refinance.