I will be acquiring a property in the area shortly and want to lock in a PM before moving forward with submitting an offer. 

It's not really a brainstorming session or anything, but once I think through the same plans enough times and get to know them like the back of my hand; I feel like I can actualize them much easier when the time actually comes to take action... recognize opportunities sooner, pull the trigger faster and with more confidence, etc. 

I got my house at a 3.25% interest rate for a 30 year which to this day blows my mind, because the interest rate that I would have gotten (3.75%) suddenly dipped about an hour before I locked it in.

Based on that you have two completely different approaches, if it is a former it really comes down simply to income you and your partners have and a 25% down payment (assuming you are not going to live there) for a conventional agency loan (FNMA/Freddie) and you will have to put it in your names as no mortgage banker will finance an LLC/LP (there are ways to get around it after you buy it in your name and transfer into an LLC without triggering a due on sale clause but that is a different conversation).If you are talking about a multifamily loan, you can get a down payment for as low as 15% for certain product types (like FHA multifamily) but you would need a loan amount of about $2 million for most lenders.

Also, keep in mind that you'd need to stay up to speed on all proper documents and forms in your state as well as maintaining a status with your local Association of Realtors, pay for MLS access, pay for lock-box access, attach to a brokerage and onboard with them, along with several other items.

Have a tenant who won’t pay rent changed the locks won’t get out etc in the Philadelphia area courts super backed up any advice from someone familiar with Philadelphia area 

(but don't quote me on any of these numbers; verify them yourself).A lot of folks have built excellent portfolios with locked-in low interest debt simply by moving to a new primary residence once every year or two, and repeating that process until hitting the limit on primary residence mortgages.Congrats on your strong equity position!

@Carlos Martinez- 1) if you have  no property yet and  are trying to get pre approved - and  trying to decide on a lender to use for this - you DO NOT  need to have the  credit pulled  yet  2) contact whatever lenders  you want on the same day and  provide the same  criteria  ( price / loan amt / credit score/ loan program ) and  ask  for   quotes  from them   and  any other  questions you have  3)   if any are not willing or able to  provide quotes - take them off your list  4) make a  decsion on one lender from the feedback  received and proceed with the one  lender for the  formal  pre approval and  have them pull the  formal  tro merge  credit report  and provide them with all your data ( paystubs / bank statements  / w2s  etc ....)   5) once pre approved -  begin to aggresively  house  hunt  6) when a  property is  found and you get into contract - you can  cost compare the lender  you are  pre approved with  with any  other lender and make final decision to proceed with rate lock with the lender you choose 

We use Hospitable.com for all guest messaging, canned messages, alerting our cleaner when we have a new reservation or cancellation, automatically setting the key codes for the locks. 

I think the NJ Tenants Rights Handbook states that Tenants can change the locks and are not required to give the landlord a key.I provide the handbook to my tenants, but ask that they do not change the locks as I need to get in for HVAC maintenance, repairs and emergencies.