Am I thinking correctly that I can help limit the impact of property tax hikes by focusing on locking in a lower mortgage cost vs. taxes to better take advantage of inflation over time?

A large employer can announce layoffs that impact demand which pushes prices lower.

My wife was probably the most stressed during the two years, even though it worked out well and never adversely affected our budget.

Well, turns out that if I don't report expenses, the tax cost is quite high, so it might not be an option.Anyways, still curious to know how one approach or the other would impact mortgage qualification.

If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.

I'm always wary of average profit margins for flipping as they're based on  incomplete data, missing actual expenses that have a significant impact on profit margins.  

This means that the rental income on the 2-3 additional units you don't live in have to cover your PITI expenses, and of course you're ceiling is the FHA loan limit, but that sounds like a way to get into a second property with minimal impact on your monthly cash flow when it's all said & done. 

There are A FEW lenders will use the new owner's payments (given a certain history of payments) to off-set the debt so that it doesn't have an adverse affect on the DTI of the original owner. 

If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.

Have HOAs impacted how you operate?