Total loan amount including closing costs was $318,313.

He told me never to pay off a property and only keep smaller amounts of money in the bank and keep acquiring.

Sounds like he is somewhat successful, but it could be because of the amount of people paying $997 to sign up plus $97/month coaching fee (not sure if the cost is still the same from what was said 10 years ago) https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

For the amount you are paying, you shouldn't have to manage your manager.

Do lenders take into account that I'm paying half of the loan amount?

You need to accurately estimate the amount of repairs you will need to perform.

We want to live in this home for some amount of time.

Normally, when an investor or management company has trouble renting a place it's because the rent amount they're asking for is too high or the place isn't quite ready to rent yet.

It is better to do a deal than skip one just because the dollar amount for financing is high.Good luck in your search and know that if the numbers make sense, you have made the right choice.

5A you need to put 30 or 60 days in and then that is the amount of notice you need to give after the initial term to terminate the lease (actually that notice can be given before the lease is up to end the lease on the lease end date.