That keeps our home off the hook a little bit, but also provides the capital we will need to expand our rental empire (smirk)The other end of the spectrum would be to max out the loan This means we could take a great vacation (another smirk) This would result in no cash flow, but one could say that we are taking the calculated cash flow in advance in a lump sum Explanation: If we were able to take out $12,000 from the loan you could say that amount would be equivalent to $200 per month for the next five years, and since it is not income, it would not be subject to taxes This would provide the most risk since our approach is that any cash flow that we have, could in essence be used as a reduction in rent if the economy tanks again This option would also restrict our future financing efforts as the property would show no positive cash flow (except for the short-term vacancy, repairs, and capex allowances used in our calculations that don’t really go out in cash each month)My feeling is that we continue on the course we planned and only get the loan for the amount of our cash into the project.

Added a bath, contemporary colors and finishes, finished out a storage area into a heater and cooled bonus room.

Columbus is a great market for multifamily. from my limited experience self storage is very tight and hard to get in franklin county but outside of it in the outskirts like mansfield or other tertiary markets you can find on market deals 

I got out of those and since I bought my rental properties, I may go back and buy REITs in different sectors such as public storage types of maybe healthcare again...but once you have physical real estate there's really no need for mREITs...I wouldn't think so anyway.

The apex predator in that case would be the banks that could stop giving you credit, tenants that stop paying rent and/or the economy tanking.

Maybe you can build storage units/garages to rent on the new property you will own?

I explained that if the market tanks, my employer may terminate me because IT is a necessary evil to them, but only when they need us.-  Also, regarding the market tanking, how much fluctuation should one expect with rental income? 

And for those items you’ll really never use but still struggle to get rid o,f consider getting a small offsite storage unit.2.

We are bullish on self storage as they tend to do better in recessions. 

For example, my average 2000 ft home needs on average $20,000 in upgrades to be ready - so $10/ft has been my average ( carpet/paint/granite kitchen/wood & tile floors, plumbing fixtures, landscape, hot water tank, HVAC repairs, $1-2K in Home Depot items as well).