If lower, and it is a distressed property (under performing), it may require additional consideration.  

An HOA can rise the HOA dues to the point you cannot afford to pay them and will feel you have nothing to do about it .

Also take into consideration each state has different laws.

@Alex Bejenaru different market obviously here in Denver, CO but there are some similarities: rising home prices, saturated investor market.

There's usually a pretty defined range of market rent for an area, and I will be in the mid-to-high end of that on turnovers, but will actually stay on the lower end with existing tenants because as market rents rise, I don't raise theirs as much as I would ask if I were finding new tenants.  

Right now my monthly gross is right around $3500-$4000 but the lenders won't take into consideration that amount.

Short example not trying to sound morbid here but i do get calls from 2 local funeral homes .Most do there own in house type financing but occasionally they do run across people that are land rich but don't have a pot to PXXX in , A little help , guidence , and volunteering to others can go a long ways in one day making a deal come together and putting you atop the consideration list when the time comes for the people to sell . 

I'd like to sell my home and get something smaller, and then use the savings from the decreased mortgage to put towards investing, but that doesn't seem likely without a considerable loss.

Taking into consideration the resale value and the high cost involved in the complete gut job, materials, plumbing & materials cost I just decided to just do a quick and easy refresh on the bathroom. 

Total new units predicted this year are considerably lower at 3,500 (Marquette Advisors).