In every part of the country I've been in having them does not decrease value.

If I sold the condo now, I would almost certainly lose at least $20k because the value has decreased since I bought it.

It is the third largest MSA in PA (~650K residents, ~875K projected by 2040), 68th in the entire USA. 4.4% Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate in January (Decrease of 1 percent over the year), which is better than the total USA.Jobs and incomeJob growth was 0.9% over the year.Job growth in the past 5 years has been particularly high in Healthcare & Social Assistance (5,758 jobs or 12% growth) Transportation & Warehousing (4,567 jobs or 32% growth), and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (3,877 jobs or 54% growth) according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC).

Having said that if it is not a corporate guarantee but a franchisee they might be struggling and say they need a rent decrease or stay the same in the primary term.

The new loan would be on about: $208,000 (increasing debt from 184k)Interest rate would stay the same at 3.875 or it may even increase to 4%, so the new P&I would be about 977.5 - 993.02 (up from 928).New cash flow on the property would be $435-$450 (decrease of $50-$65/month).Does this strategy make sense to other BP friends? 

Narrowing down the type of investment that suits your current situation with regard to time, finances and risk (even if you delve into other REI areas later) can really help whittle down the amount of time you need to devote to research and decreases the probability of analysis paralysis.Best of luck in your new adventure!

(We get a %0.25 rate decrease when we pay with an auto debit payment.

I understand real estate far better than anything else, I can identify and execute on market inefficiencies, force appreciation, increase rents, decrease expenses and get long term fixed rate debt under 5% all while owning hard assets that cashflow.

Decreasing IRR over time, assuming you're not taking anything out over time, seems counter intuitive.

That is a great interest rate and in 27 years inflation has greatly decreased your debt and you have offset the payment to a tenant, and you have depreciated it over 27 years and got all those tax benefits.