You might can get back money if you lose it but time is what is most precious. 

Buying land and constructing looks to be attractive play to me . if real estate corrects by 15-20% then all i am losing is the 15% profit margin assuming i have assessed things accurately . 

Just try not to lose any.  

Then you know the exact dollar amount of any reliability or service-based premium you might be paying, and you can decide if you want to pay it, or would prefer to risk losing the house entirely.A company like the one I work at, the lender credit for a given rate might very well be $500 less than what you will get quoted at the jenky place where the underwriter doesn't know how to calculate rental income.

IDK just a thought, otherwise as a landlord you have to be careful of how much you spend to fix up your places, the value may not be there in the end and you will lose out.

Our goal is to own a few free and clear...the cash flow will be amazing -  Aloha,JeffJeff, do you really want to lose 2016 dollars just to get it back in 2044 dollars as what you are incorrectly calling increased cash flow? 

If the property sustains uninsured damage, the buyer may lose incentive to pay, ask you to accept less money, or even abandon the property, again leading to foreclosure.

Don't lose sight of the fact that most o the wealth created in real estate is from investors, not commissions.  

I agree with Mike but my though also is that it is generally a bad idea to lose a garage in favor of living space.

Zoomed out to the 10 year time-frame, you aren't going to make or lose money by having or not having an escrow account, except for that small amount of closing costs difference.