It has more reliable tenants (some of which even fix the property up), more stable and predictable appreciation, and just over-all less work.

But I’ve found ways to get the cash for down payments then have harvested equity to scale up. 

How much do you have to contribute toward a down payment ?

My current property manager doesn't instead sending a monthly ledger with the month's payments (company name, pay date, amount) as well as monthly income/expense statement.

I figure if I went with the unsecure loan I can purchase under that minimum loan amount that the HML requires (preserving my 30k in capital vs using it as a down payment).

I am responsible for a pretty large mortgage payment and only my employment income to pay my mortgage in all the bills.

@Jack LittleThere are standard templates from Fannie Mae but I would have an attorney draft these documentsThey can be held (the lender) through a deferred retirement account but make sure you are using a third party servicer to collect payments

Make sure that if you intend to stand firm a evict the tenant, your deficiency notice includes a notice that you are disabling unilateral payments as you are not accepting late rent. 

Its not always easy to come up with the down payment.

Of course, the rate can be slightly steeper than the conventional loans where it is a full document loan, where they need to qualify you based on your income.Alternative way, is to acquire the 2nd property as an investment property with conventional, while putting 15%-25% down payment.