We are hoping to retire to this home in 2-10 years and figured we'd buy why rates are cheap and let someone else pay the mortgage for awhile.

Granted the terms I offer a lot of the time aren’t amazing (they have very low interest rates), but that’s the only way I can make deals work.

The new mortgage on the new $340k duplex home which is an FHA loan is going to be a monthly payment of $2800 and we will refi ASAP (the current rate is 6.7%) when rates go down.We have done some nice improvements on the SFR and will be refinishing the wood floors before a renter moves in (July 1) so feeling like it's a great opportunity for the right long term renter and we plan to screen prospective tenants well.We are taking a $20k HELOC on the SFR for the downpayment and plan to pay that off within 12-18 months.

Yes you can refinance out as long as you qualify and meet the terms of the lender2.

There are some pretty good products out there available for investments, where you can do seller paid temporary rate buydowns.

Every dollar into this project is borrowed at various interest rates.

Texas is a great state to hang up your license and with property values increasing and rates on the edge of a breaking point. 

and as for rate its market.

Chances are you'll want to refi in a few years anyway once rates fall.

Then you can visit the property, meet the owner, and negotiate an offer.It doesn't make sense to write an offer when they may not even be interested in selling and you have no idea what it's worth to you.