4) With the new SALT Tax in place, how much tax credit can I claim?

Cash is king, when making purchases, reno is fine for credit.  

I have been against credit cards my whole life, but BP taught sometimes its ok to do high interest financing.

depending on the credit score and value of the properties we can get that done for sure

Specify things you might not think of, such as who is responsible for advertising vacancies, who will run credit checks etc.

They do background checks and run their credit report.

(Loan program, term, credit score, etc) just for hypotheticals, say your looking at a 30 year conventional on your primary residence with 720 credit, rate could be ~4.75-5.125%  FHA is typically a little lower. 

@Kervin SimonSmall local banks and credit unions are always best for this

@Eric M - I don't collect any fee upfront other than credit report fee and appraisal. 

It's been a huge source of education and inspiration for me and my husband on our REI  journey.As to next steps, I would recommend finding a real estate agent that you trust, and also start talking to lenders (banks, mortgage brokers, credit unions, etc.)