You have to be somewhat 'seasoned' to do this as you are on a deadline to decide and if you miss something and go firm, you open yourself up to a world of problems.I personally don't do this but there those that do.Good luck,Oren

If you send your go-to lender your most recent tax returns and mortgage statements for each property, he should be able to work it up in like 10 minutes (assuming your property taxes and homeowner's insurance haven't changed significantly since you did your taxes). 

You should give the firm a call when choosing PM.  

FHA and the USDA loan have permanent mortgage insurance which is an added cost that does nothing for you, whereas conventional removes the mortgage insurance once you have 20% equity in the property so if you can do conventional that is generally preferred but if you can make the numbers work FHA can be a good option too. 

What system is everyone using to keep track of property information such as insurance premiums, maintenance records, age of the A/C, etc.

You only have to look at the nearest mass produced sub division that is developed and built by a contractor to know exactly what I'm talking about. 3)  - Shop around and find a somewhat local architecture firm and start talking to them.

I know this site mainly focuses on how to buy investment properties, but I thought I would touch on a subject that may help someone down the road avoid a potentially expensive pitfall through the proper insurance coverage.

I think I'd like to have all my money back so I can get into another property, while my tenants pay down principal... and I'm budgeting for capex, maint/repair, vacancy, insurance, taxes, and management... but is the benefit of having nothing in the deal worth having almost no true cash flow?

1- Secure contract with purchase price and terms2- Send contract to title (search and insure)3- Draft note and mortgage (you'll need a lawyer to do this- less than $500 likely)3- Seller uses proceeds (your down payment) to pay-off  the lien (The title company will handle all this)4- Close the transaction5- Establish payments to sellerYou'll want to make sure there will not be a delay between the payoff of the 1st lien- executing the "lien release" and closing your transaction- will require coordination.

Make sure you have good insurance in case she burns down the house.