The existing balance is probably THE sole factor keeping home prices from launching into inter-stellar space.The ONLY way to dampen home prices is to dampen the demand, and that would (further) devastate the economy.... unless, of course, Yellowstone blows.

The trick is to figure this out without blowing your budget and wasting too much time in the process.If you need a quick rundown of how to pull a list from AgentPro247 (if/when you ever want to go that route) - you can reference this overview here:

Learn about funding opportunities.Business Plan Topics http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html Plan Your Business Get ReadyWrite a Business PlanStart Your Business Find a Mentor Finance Start-Up Buy a Business Buy a Franchise Name Your Business Choose a Structure Protect Your Ideas Get License and PermitsPick a Location Lease EquipmentManage Your Business Lead Make Decisions Manage Employees Market and Price Market and Sell Understand Fair Practice Pay Taxes Get Insurance Handle Legal Concerns Forecast Advocate and Stay Informed Use Technology Finance GrowthGetting Out Plan Your Exit Sell Your Business Transfer Ownership Liquidate Assets File Bankruptcy Close OfficiallySCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide.

I feel like that is a blow I should take in order to gain the experience.

The bank isn't going to let you blow their money.

Its not that painful and your tenants will not run into issues with blowing fuses and over loading circuits.  

Or is this going to blow up in people's faces again?

I know for a fact that there are several whole-house listings on AirBnB for Grand Rapids right now.Be careful, as HH has rather zealous neighbors who may blow the whistle on you.  

That way you don't blow your entire nest egg on your first property's down payment and we're not even considering closing costs, repairs, and capex.

I'm a huge advocate of this, and it's pretty much exclusively what I do as well.One thing I wanted to clarify is this: when you say "owner financing contract," are your referring to a purchase agreement?