My wife could choose to get a job if she wants "fun money", but my priority now is freeing myself from the rat race.

Also another piece of advice that i 'd like to offer you is to choose a good title company.  

The loan originator may choose to:1) have the amount of the credit remain the same as stated on the GFE to cover additional closing costs previously not anticipated to be included in the ?

If you were to market, I'd choose a peripheral market that will still have a tourism draw (Ocean City, Brigantine, Avalon, etc).

What I love about this approach is that the people call me and I pick and choose only the deals I like (and refer my turndowns to my competitors for a piece of the profit). 

Personally I did the debt snowball on all my personal debt before starting my REI.Regardless of what you choose good luck to you.

In this range the rental returns are easily 10-12% all cash, and you have a great working class tenant profile.I personally have one rental that is worth over $250k and while the tenants have been awesome, the turnover has been high.So at the end of the day, just try and pick a goal first, and then choose a strategy from there.

I have two applicants. I like both, have run background checks, and there are no red flags.

Candidate 1: financially a little better off, and I believe will treat the house very well. Due to their family situation ...

If you don't mind me asking-- which strategy did you choose to get started and how did it work out for you ?! 

I think combining both properties on one deed would be beneficial to any exit strategy.I know I came off harsh and apologize to @Shawn Holsapple for that, but it is definitely not a path I would choose.