Structure the deal which works out best for you and the seller - that may be a lower sales price, that may be the owner carrying paper on favorable terms in exchange for a higher sales price, or something different.  

And I'm sure you can find higher, lower and everything in between. 

Same goes for deal sponsors - between the fees they earn and their cut of the profits from the deal, they typically earn more dollars investing other people's money in larger, lower-ROI projects than they'd earn investing their own money in smaller, higher-ROI projects. 

Should I refinance to lower my payments and eliminate the PMI so I can have some positive cash flow ?

Credit card points and rewards are a tax on lower-middle America who can't get their ish together.I take full advantage of it with zero credit card debt of my own, and churn through cards like tic-tacs with a 800+ credit score that I leverage like a beast.I get funny looks from my lenders though when they see about 50 fully paid but closed credit card accounts, but when I explain it to them they're like okay whatever...a little weird but he pays his bills.I've been doing it for close to 13 years now.

But be careful, everything gets lower quality as you move west on the map.  

Not everyone is building, so I thought since my costs will be much lower than most, perhaps that's the way to go. 

If there's enough area for additional solar capacity you could even implement solar revenue by selling solar electricity directly to tenants for additional monthly income while also "green"-marketing a lower electric rate to tenants than the power company.

It may be enough leverage for you to get a lower price.

That can also allow for live-in flip like living for couple years and moving to next one...lower down payment like fha 203k etc is also great option for this...cheers!