Being from California, Vt and Nh do things very differently so I do hire listing agents and transaction lawyers and have learned a lot from them.Last year I bought a dozen houses sight unseen... 3 of them I still haven't seen yet and it's been over 6 months since closing... lol They were too cheap and I probably shouldn't have bought them as they probably aren't worth my time as I'll probably only make about $10k each instead of my usual $50-100k each...

In your case, a VA Loan (no money down, does not charge Principle Morgage Insurance that is added to your Monthly Mortgage Payment, a 30 year amortization schedule, and a residential loan rate). 

i debated it for a while...still do, but i have a guiding principle that drives my business - I will not buy a home i would not be willing to live in myself - mostly because i may have to one day!

They also operate like a business: you do not get into a 100 unit apartment complex thinking you are going to do it yourself, you hire staff (or outsource to a professional management company).In hind sight, if I were starting over, I'd never have bought anything smaller than 16 - 20 units in the beginning and as time goes by, I'm thinking maybe nothing less than 30 - 50 units.Starting off there may be benefit to work with an experienced operator or syndicator who knows the business ... even if only in an advisory capacity.

I chose this software over Quickbooks because it was a step higher on the functionality scale than Quicken, but also maintains strong adherence to accounting principles.  

Cleaning crews at hotels make sense because they work hourly and can clean lots of rooms, and the same principle hold true for vacation rentals.  

They have had their fair share of defaults on debt deals, but to my knowledge no one has lost principle.

**not an accountant**No the principle reduction is neither tax income or tax deduction providing you are paying back the loan.  

For example a condo at 74k, owner sells, buyer occupies and the monthly fee is the principle towards the 74k till it is owned, is that more or less in the ballpark?

I listened to a couple (20) of episodes this week and I am absolutely 100% sold on the principles of REI.