I would only be aggressive with leverage if you were really comfortable with the actual investment and it was a lower risk opportunity otherwise it could all blow up in your face.So if you go by the math alone- leverage, leverage, leverage.

As many of you are aware, if you own a building in your own name, 1-4 units, you can often get great "FNMA type" financing where you get a decent interest rate, lower DP, and literally locked in with no rate changes for 30 years.

When you raise rents each year starting out at lower rents you tend to still be the best priced in town.Conversely the higher priced rents the property tends to be extra special, or a new build with amenities,etc.

One, that is 10k more than mine, and another one that is 15K lower, but needs a lot of improvements. 

I understand hard money can close quickly but if I had the 25% I would just continue to use my portfolio lender who charges much lower rates. 

I can refinance my first-and-only current rental property to lower my overall payment by a couple hundred per month and get rid of PMI, but I'm not sure what to do after that.

(Want lower down payment).Also can i get a conventional loan for a home im going to live in for less than the 20% i normally pay ?

My analysis is that if there were lower offers, my price would be high; but no offers at all, that puts my concern in the house, it's layout, size, etc., I mean the house is not appealing.I am not desperate yet, but I could use some out of the box point of view to move forward.Thanks again for your answer Abe.Fernando.

What I would do is prequal my seller, show them homes, and put in a cash offer(probably lower than their contingent loan offer).

If you're willing to put 20% down, you could probably lower rates by a couple of percent or points down to 2.