The property was originally purchased in 2004 for $173,500. 

Quote from @Richard Hoyte: What is a good and or acceptable amount of money to have saved up before buying your first rental property I'm aware this can vary depending on the state/area but is there a rule of thumbThank you ahead of time  Hello Richard, Your down payment amount will have a lot to do with this.If you are going with the minimum downpayment of 3 - 3.5% , you'll want to have at least a total of 10% of the purchase price (to also account for closing costs) + 6 months in reserves.

Why do you think purchase contracts are so long and have such small print?

We have helped quite a few military members purchase homes and then transition into SFR when they relocate.

Don't ignore them, just play along with them for now to keep them from canceling your hardship request.

If you need the capital from a rental for a primary home purchase and you wanted to side step cap gains, then the approach would be to refinance the rental not sell it. 

--So, S8 doesn't solve everything and has its own challengesRead more below (copy & paste):Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.So, when investing in areas they don’t really know, investors should research the different property Class submarkets.

I am looking into purchasing a plot of land somewhere around my state of Illinois to give myself leverage and motivation to develop it.

If you have paid much upfront, you can cancel the transaction and then wait until the seller gets everything ready.It also sounds odd they are charging the 2500 origination fee without the loan closing.

Our policy is raise halfway to market following purchase.