3) Your $250k with 30% down => about $750k (you also need funds for closing costs, taxes, etc.)

You then put it on the wall to sense the paint color, and it sends the color to your phone - adjacent to the manufacturer's color that most closely matches the wall color.

I believe United FCU is best. 20% down, usually a 10yr term (they offer a longer term though), and an interest rate that's pretty close to the current average for conventional loans. 

Many offices have showers and gyms but if not you'd better have one close by!

If you close with a conventional loan, it will need to be in your personal name.

My plan for this year is improve my credit, get my real estate license (to increase my income on top of my W-2), possibly career transition into the property management space (to learn more), and save as much as possible and learn as much as I can.I’d love to house hack close to home but my area is so expensive it seems like it’d be close to impossible. 

It's probably going to mean paying points at closing, a high rate, and a serious pre-payment penalty (like 5 years). 

I would start close to where you live personally. 

The process of buying, getting a loan and settling to closing was extremely smooth.

It appraised for $201,000 and I put $103,000 in my pocket after closing costs and previous mortgage payoff.