One said the 2nd mortgage has to be assumable and the other said it did not.VA issued Circular #26­24­17 back in August to try and clear up the issue:Assumability: If the secondary borrowing is not assumable, the holder of the VA guaranteed loan should counsel the assumer that this may restrict their ability to sell the property to another creditworthy assumer through an assumption in the future.The lender currently servicing the loan still can decide whether or not they'll allow the 2nd.You could do seller financing for the gap and then refinance just that amount with a Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit at some point down the road. 

Pros - guaranteed rent, tenants stay longer on averageCons - more mgmt needed (lease violations), they tend to not take great care of properties (increase maintenance expense or deferred maintenance)

4) Keep my money in a guaranteed savings account making 4.5%, until rates drop more or something changes, and the numbers are better to make a move?

. :) A zoning change can take up to 6 months, approval isn't guaranteed (despite Aldermanic support), and potentially cost a lot of money (architectural site / floor plans & dimensioned elevations, zoning attorney, holding costs, etc.) 

You're marking the equities to most recent returns, the reality is a real estate investment to live in is a guaranteed rate of return and serves utility. 

Paying more to guarantee getting the product versus jumping through hoops (short sale) or possibility of now owning it at all (auction).I'm only asking questions to understand!

Leverage and invest at 40x $100 000 properties ($20k down + $5k closing cost, 30 yeas fix rate loan) with a return of 10% where you have better asset protection (my keeping lower equity and higher bank position), you are hedge against inflation (agree with me, in 30 years $1 000 000 purchasing power will be less compare than $1 000 000 today) Here is how looks mathematically:1. 10% on $1 000 000 (10x $100 000) = $100 000 / annually - No interest tax deduction- No loan paydown benefit2. 10% on 1 000 000 (40x $100 000) = $400 000 / annually - debt service + full tax benefits+ loan pay down+ hedge against inflation for 30 years+ better asset protection (by maintaining lower equity  position)   + (not guaranteed of course) if appreciation happens, it happens on the all full asset amount, example:If appreciate 10%:In case "1" you will have 10% on $1 000 000 = $1 100 000In case "2" you will have 10% on all 40x properties (40x $100 000 = 4 000 000) = $1 400 000As far as cash flow, as long you buy "right" CAP 8% and higher you will have stronger cash flow on leveraged asset + all additional benefits.

It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.

There is only 1 guarantee when you buy a property - you are about to spend a pile of money.

Unfortunately using PS+PW guarantees you will not be at the front of he queue where you need to be, why?