If I sell the house, will the money from the sell go back into the total mortgage, or when I get the house surveyed, does that trigger a refinance and create two mortgages?

Totally valid and understandable!

If you want a place you can't rely on a counter offer.To the comments about his RE agent not understanding investments - he didn't mention whether he was looking for an investment or a SFH to live in.  

Plus like the other guys said, you can be totally hands-off if you like and just be a passive investor. 

The original attorney had told me it would cost ~ $4k total if I had to foreclose, so I'm thinking $5k+ may not be too far off base. 

My current tenants in that home are totally awesome.

However - this decreases the total amount of conventional mortgages you can get if you did it separately.

I just did a quick google search and Baltimore County requires all rentals to have hard-wired smoke detectorshttps://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/News/PoliceNews/...In addition Baltimore REIA has an article which indicates that the city requires hard-wired smoke detectors as well:http://www.baltimorereia.com/smoke-detector-law/If you read the Baltimore REIA article carefully it lays out when battery powered detectors must be upgraded to hard-wired but of course you should not solely rely on their article.

totally ineffective strategy.Is there something I should do.thx russ

Here are the numbers,Purchase Price: $165,000 as-isFinanced: $123,750 (25% down, couldn't put any less down with a conventional lender)Mortgage Rate: 5.25% (no points); 5.35% APR -rates are on the rise it seems.Estimated closing costs: $4,500Initial cash invested: $46,310Gross Rent: $1,725 ($875/$850)Operating Expenses: $815 (includes mgmt fees @ 10% & capex of $275/mo)Cash flow: $140.77Principal reduction: $142Cash-on-cash: 3.65%Total ROI: 7.4%Possible near future repairs: Roof (Estimated at $4,000); windows (Estimated at $5,000).