That's exactly how a lender or creditor would treat the situation, as well.

@Matthew LorenzoTo learn from those who know investing well, it's smart to mix with them.

@Troy Smith - if you buy a new primary home its 5% down for a conventional loan or maybe FHA works as well with 3.5% down. 

Also, I would also not cross-collateralize the houses if a lender would even do a portfolio loan.On your second question about multifamily, I would not jump to multifamily until you have experienced the common management problems with single-family as the expenses scale with the size of the property as well as the cost of mistakes.I would consider getting Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC) on each property.

Do you cash flow well?

@Russell Brazil posts about this frequently - better to do repairs yourself and hold in escrow than have seller do it as you never know how well it’s done.

Hi Nicholas, I just listed my 1st rental property as well (located in Henderson, NV).

It isn't a game that can be well played without spending a lot of time and or money. 

I would also recommend checking out Airbnb/VRBO (for 30+ day stays) as well as Zillow.

Some in downtown Norfolk as well.