You may be able to get a loan with only a few percent down.

I needed some cash about a year ago and Note Investors were offering me 85%-90% UPB for TEN PERCENT Notes in a ZERO Interest Rate environment.  

We are an African American couple in our fifties. 

If you're still on the education track,  here are a few suggestions on my end:I've read through just about every MF book out there (12+) - here are my top 3: 1) Joe F's book "The Best Ever Apartment Syndication book" (already mentioned)2) Syndication is a b*tch by Bruce Petersen3) Lifetime cashflow through multifamily properties by Rod Khleif Some great podcasts to subscribe to as well: Lifetime cash flow, Pillars of Wealth Creation, Best Ever Real Estate showAlso, Udemy has some fantastic courses on underwriting, asset management, and syndication for VERY cheap.

As far as percentages and my interest in percentages is, that's what I seem to be reading. 1.5 percent of the home value compared to rent.

Cash out refinances are around 70-80 percent of the ARV.

And they want to charge extra fees for doing their job. the conclusion I've come to is charging a percent of collected rent with no fees.

If you are happy making 2 to 3 percent, by all means, pay off your mortgage early. 

I am still trying to figure out how to turn a 600,000 house into something with more units and more income.You're seeing why any of the percent "rules" shouldn't be used. 

I can do about 60 percent of the work myself.