Single family mortgage of 2200/month (yes this crushed my cash flow and ability to leverage a lot of the equity in 2 family and am fully aware and heartbroken) and about 60k in 401k/IRA's/brokerage and only 30k in equity at the new house after some improvements.With interest rates recently climbing I've become more hesitant to refi on the two family, but see it as our only option short term to move my objectives forward.1) Is a Cash-out mortgage/refi my only option?

My objection to the repair threshold is that tenants may not bother repairing or letting the owner know about anything small, since they don't want to fix it either, and that could end up creating a larger problem.

Looks like you did your research and you overcame your hardest objection - analysis by paralysis.

I constantly have to control myself from ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’.

I think rentals are a good stable game. Rents

.  ;-)Now you will hear from the 'shiny object type' that will tell you to buy it for less.  

A hot job market or real estate market doesn't always equate to a hot investment markets, especially if your objective is cash flow.

A lot of them depend on what kind of property you are buying, the deal size, and what you and your partner's ultimate objectives are.  

Position the warehouse with key answers you provide and you will lesson the objections significantly.

Setting aside any actual legal requirements, many title companies may object to that kind of arrangement.