By paying down a mortgage quicker all you are doing is hoarding your excess surplus cash.

Until then adequate insurance is sufficient unless you are using your real estate to park excess cash as equity.

And if she's that mold-sensitive (allegedly), maybe it would be better for it to not be there.As a middle road, you could advise her to open the door to let it dry between cycles and run a de-humidifier.

Once flooring has gone through the cycle of the seasons a few times expansion/contraction really comes down to the extremes, water or  extremely dry air to see fluctuations in wood.

A 3/2 SFR (some w/ garage conversion for 3rd BR)  in a B- to solid C area are currently  going quickly in in excess of 175k and need work.

etc, honestly, I was unprepared to answer this since I had not considered this strategy and since have become curious I would love some feedback regarding this practice, my understanding is as follows:Option to purchase on a lease is typically 1% of the value (non-refundable, but credited to down payment if the purchase goes through)rent is increased by 10% for forced savings (non-refundable, but the amount in excess credited to down payment if the purchase goes through)  would greatly appreciate direction and resources to aid in making this transaction a success, my questions start at:should I pay for an appraisal now and add X% to that for the future purchase time frame I.E. 250K Appraised + 3% for every 12 of the lease term orshould the price be set at the time of purchase (who pays for the appraisal)I have an agent listing this now, how would the agent make his commision on a scenario like this (the agent did not participate in putting this deal together) Should the agent be involved?

No room for excessive emotion in this biz.

People don't realize that even with proper grounding, something as simple as loose connections can cause excessive heating and thermal run away.

Real estate agents are a dime a dozen so when the market dries up you will want that full time job to carry you through the next few years.Do not be to quick to abandon your job security.

Buy some properties that cash flow and get deals on work from my vendors since their jobs will dry up!