Getting $450k from a home sale and willing to pay entire year rent upfront.

. $45k from several unexpected large repairs (water leaks, roof collapse, siding rot, plumbing main line, etc.)These issues are also causing me to rethink the assumptions in my model, increasing my vacancy rate from 8% to 12%, repairs from 5% to 20%, and capex from 5% to 20%.

Paying down your mortgage is 100% risk free. 

This will be my primary residence and my partner will be paying some portion towards the monthly expenses.

Quote from @Lucas Hunt:  I will essentially be managing the entire property/collecting rent and my friend will not have to lift a finger.No offense,  but your friend would be better off buying the property for himself and paying a PM 10%.

Not a problem for one QB Desktop subscription, but after I added it up, including one $200/month subscription, we would have had to pay nearly $5000 per year in QB Online subscriptions to match the capability of QB Desktop!!!

Thanks, @Bradley Buxton.Along this line of thinking, would it make sense to also look into a syndication model?

I like that the HELOC functioned more as a credit card, and I only had to pay for what I used, so I had 200K of equity on hand, but only had to pay the interest on 120K.

We even said we'd pay more. 

Buying a home is the best Investment you can ever do, owning your own home, having the equity and most times its cheaper than rent.How do I overcome the rate, by paying the principal down!