There is no monthly PMI with these particular varieties of conventional loans.If you use FHA, you will have the upfront MIP, as well as monthly PMI, unless you put down 20%.So, the bottom line is, what would you do otherwise with your available cash if you didn't put it into the down payment on your residence?

She has a fun variety of deals, Colm has more "here's yet another house for $20k that needs lots of rehab."  

,There are a variety of Private Lenders / Hard Money Lenders who will close on deals at the terms you're requesting.The biggest challenge with lower loan amounts (especially under $50k), is that you'll typically be paying a very high rate compared to the larger loans.That's because most Private Lenders have some type of "minimum origination fee" ...

I hear and see many very successful people in the industry who have come from a variety of disciplines.

I've tried credit unions both in FL and VT, a variety of banks and a large variety of online sites (Lendingtree, Lending Club, Prosper, Avant and many others).

But most will not gift away free resources to begginers for variety of reasons. 

It will help you to know there are many forums available on a wide variety of subjects.

If they ever go into the next month, that's a red flag worthy of initiating eviction proceedings, but if they're constantly 3 weeks behind and are paying you over $1k per year in late fees, I'd send them flowers and champagne.

It sits on an acre lot in an older neighborhood (variety of houses of different sizes).

Every residence is unique and could be rented for different amounts for a variety of reasons.That said, I would gradually raise the rent over the years unless you are ready to rehab the place and then raise them up to market value.If you raise significantly, perhaps do some upgrade of significance to "give" them something as a result of the increase.