She pays modest pet fee per month.

Look into a hard money loan so you can get the rehab budget covered, and make sure the rehab budget is non-dutch so you do not pay interest on the rehab budget until you begin to make reimbursement draws.

But, everyone has to live somewhere, and for most of us that means paying to love, so why not have someone else subsidize that cost while building equity for you. 

You might pay $100,000 less for a resale vs new with the same rent.Most new home communities do not allow investors.Many if not most of the HOAs for the new home communities are not friendly to investors. 

If the seller will entertain it you write it into your offer - what you're willing to pay total, loan term, interest rate, down payment. 

For example, you can use credit cards for vacations you can't pay for. 

@Edward BrileyWere you ever able to close paying by credit card?

I plan to be raising the rents on them because they are currently paying about 40% under fair market rent.

Paying rent will force you to maintain a personal budget, it will ensure your property produces the income necessary to operate the property, it creates a savings for you as a landlord so you can prepare for the next investment, and it shows how the property performs as an investment in case you have to sell.You need two accounts: checking and savings.