I am not going to blow my wad of cash and lock myself into waiting 5 years to see what happens.

If I do a cash out refi - that locks me in at the property value at what *I* think might be at the height of the market, right? 

Your B/A areas like Munster, Dyer, Schererville, Crown Point, Highland are pretty land locked so new development is a challenge.

While downside protection is important, having a lower downpayment means I have the additional capital in my pocket anyway and I'd like to think I can get more return out of that additional fund to help with the rainy day than having it all locked up in a single Plex no?

You can lock down a property a year for 5% down, get a few under your belt and use everything you save/cash flow doing that to build up savings for the 20% down.

The other option is hard money to get a deal locked in then look to refi both homes with better turns once you have good tax return.

I did a drive by yesterday and locked the doors. 😐 It was scary. 

I thought it might be a great idea to change the locks right after the closing for obvious reasons.

The bluetooth automatic lock has me so intrigued.

Something as simple as changing locks can quickly add up.