The debt consists of our personal mortgage, the rental mortgage, and a HELOC (that was used for the down payment on the rental). 

It's a great way to learn and interact without budgeting extra time.

Sounds like you'll either need his ink (plan for extra $ for a notary to visit the jail) or a court order recorded among the land records (or however it works where you are located for enforcing an agreement pursuant to a divorce/settlement), i.e. court involvement. 

That's too much extra work for you.Also, however you're marketing this to get the leads, add a line that mentions credit score and 3x monthly rent. 

Currently, I'm paying a tiny bit extra on each mortgage.

There are opportunities to house hack just outside of the city or in the Bronx, where you can still find affordable (relatively speaking) housing - jsut with a bit of an extra commute.Thanks for the tip on calling banks and credit unions - will do this.

In fact, from the investors, I spoke to here have to top up their rental properties with extra money each week and solely relying on appreciation. 

So we're going to tell Uncle Sam that we're operating a business that consistently spends more than it makes.

Only problem with that though is I have no other extra vehicle so I would have to use my personal savings that I plan on putting towards my next deal to get a vehicle and that would wipe out all of my capital.My plan is to put 20% down on my next deal so the capital is important to me.

I would rather take a nap than have an extra few hundred in cf a rough area may or may not provide.