I worked with a large Syndicator back in the mid 80S in the Bay Area they had a multi billion dollar portfolio.. and what brought them down was this exact same scenario.. borrowing from the reserve accounts from one partnership to prop up the other.. only to eventally lose the one that was failing and leaving the others with no reserves and they started to flounder.this is a Ponzi type thing.. and I would be quite cautious about this.

To give a general idea of some of the mess they left - left it with 2/3rd of the lightbulbs burnt out, holes in 4 doors, very poorly patched holes in the walls in more than 5 locations, missing showerhead, missing ceiling lights, excessive mold, large hole knocked into paneling, enough garbage to overflow a roofing trash trailer, 2 tvs (1 stood 4' tall), cobwebs and filthy walls, excessively filthy carpet including over 15 dog male (squiggly!)

More importantly, you lose your cap gains exemption from it being your primary residence.

I am a novice here, but am I better off paying down my house and losing the $300 a month PMI, or taking the money I have in the bank and buying a rental?

Rule #1 - Don't lose moneyRule #2 - Don't forget Rule #1!

Doing it with a partner who does this all day is less time-intensive but you lose some control and some of the profit.

Their are two things that matter in this circumstance #1 how many bedrooms the tenants voucher is for and #2 what is their maximum allowable rent that section 8 will allow them to pay based on their income.To your first question If you accept an applicant that has a voucher for $1000 that is the maximum amount that your housing authority will allow you to put on the lease, so in essence you will lose out on the extra $200 a month.

We moved to central Oregon 2 years ago for a Job that went under due to company losing business; since the loss of my job we found a fifth wheel which we lived in for 8 month until a fire which took the rest of what we did own.

And many times, buyers end up paying more if they have contingencies, to win against other cash or non-contingent offers, so I often wonder whether I am actually helping my clients by adding contingencies in this market...I try to disclose as much as possible and explain why we need competent lenders and no contingencies, but I can see that many buyers esp first time buyer are skeptical until they lose a couple of properties they loved over non-contingent offers...And there's no monetary compensation received from my lender whatsoever.

But by doing that, I'd be losing about 43sqft of area.