Despite the damage, they made up for their mistake and covered the extra costs, so I plan to use them in the future.

A part of me wants to do a rent to own and keep it one single family 4/2 house and have the downstairs tenants go upstairs to cook food, and just rent it out for him for market rent which is about $2,400 and then give him his $1,200 plus some extra and keep the rest.

There is no property that works for my situation that is currently on the market, so I'd be rolling the dice on whether or not the flexibility that comes with the investment loan is potentially worth the extra cost on the loan when there may not be a property that pops up that works for who knows how long.

There is no property that works for my situation that is currently on the market, so I'd be rolling the dice on whether or not the flexibility that comes with the investment loan is potentially worth the extra cost on the loan when there may not be a property that pops up that works for who knows how long.

A simple sign stating video surveillance  is in use as well as leaving written notice about extra fees for dumping large materials should suffice on both fronts.

They don't exist, and you can't make them.Knowing what a bad deal they're locked into, Chinese investors who have successfully acquired extra property then look overseas, and they cash out in China to leave someone else with the hot potato and buy up property in HK (before recent events), Australia, Canada, and some cities in the US without many black people (mainland Chinese investors hate buying in areas with black people). 

Hard to get your exact scenario right without the extra info.

E.g. let's say some of the properties have an extra bedroom/bathroom, finished basement, newer/older homes, etc.Thanks!

That gives you a couple extra days to recover and not pay late fees.

If I did this cash out refi, I would replenish/add to the emergency fund just for a little extra comfort but would like to use the rest to buy more real estate. $40k wouldn't buy much around me so likely I would have to look out of state which I have never done before.