No reason to worry at all, the seller simply wants to save himself some commission lol.

I like @Ryan Ingram approach to the early termination clause or lack thereof. 

Most of the comparable properties I have seen are lacking a 2nd full bath, or a garage.

Simply living below your means (staying in that house) and investing in mutual funds for a few years and you could both retire early. 

@Colby White I use it for total costs, but you can use it in whichever manner makes it easier to quickly evaluate deals.The 1% rule is simply a " deal funnel" tool.

@Angelica M GarzonHey Angelica my plan is to start investing out of state but I'm stuck because of the lack of funds.

@Travis Walker I agree with @Simon W. see what you can afford. but to answer your question simply, i was also in debt with student loans, car, etc and i chose to invest in real estate anyway. yes its a risk but if i waited till im debt free id be waiting forever because its always hard to take the leap. with real estate on the side, i paid off my debt a lot faster.

It is called laziness, uninformed, lack of imagination. 

@Kelvin Letron Brantley like @Chris Mason said, most HML will look at your credit simply to determine the risk of missing payments.By nature, hard money loans are asset based.

If I were you I would simply buy a duplex in Shaker that is already in great shape.