Paying down the mortgage gives me an immediate return by paying down interest, and in a down market I could mortgage the paid-for properties (which are worth about $600k today) to pull a few hundred thousand dollars out to start buying properties at a discount.

If I could make a phone call and pay a few grand for the initial installation and a few hundred each year for the next few until the cost goes to zero, I would do this all day long.I think there's also a moral component here.  

Which of these brands have you used in your flips and what % should you spend on kitchen cabinets in relation to sales price?

I am against cheap junk imported Chinese cabinets?

The side street that I am on the corner of has the only liquor store in town a couple hundred yards up. 3.

There is nothing to say that you wont strike gold and find the perfect tenant who pays enough to cover the mortgage, but it is much easier (especially if you don't mind college students) to charge a premium rent that cash flows hundreds of dollars into your pocket every month if you find a property within the city limits.

(Your query is a commonly occurring one, in hundreds of previous threads).Good luck trying to beat the Banks at their own game.

(Or something so close to the questions that it might as well be the question).... so you walk out of the course with a test sheet with hundreds and hundreds of test questions/answers, and books that are thumb-tabbed and highlighted for commonly asked questions.So... no.

It's a monthly meeting where hundreds of investors get together and talk all things real estate. 

e.g. would it make sense to do one or two small/mid-size apartment buildings (say a few tens of units) and have that on our CV before approaching lenders and investors alike, for credibility/track record, or would some panelists think that's spinning wheels and might as well focus on learning the system to go after a larger deal (hundred doors order of magnitude) and go fundraise based on that?