Also has a detached garage that rents out separately for extra income. 

Should I get a little extra (higher LTV) for the next investment?

Unfortunately, our property managers have had to take those extra steps to get a very small percentage of our tenants to apply for the assistance.Best of luck! 

Unique idea about the extra long closing, though I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with that since I see all too often seller's get jumpy, even if a contract is in place, if they have too much time so that makes me a bit hesitant.

After reading yesterday I discovered that it could also be smart to get an umbrella policy with the reasonable limits for that extra protection.

It turns out there were some things that our inspector missed, and we were very happy to have the extra funds available to address them.My suggestion would be to make sure you have enough for the down payment plus a decent operating budget/emergency fund....maybe 6 month worth of projected expenses at least.Hope that helps.Mike

You'll be able to pull out equity tax free, and then extra tax write offs with the interest paid on the properties.A more conservative approach that I have favored in the past as well is to get a HELOC on the property.

With permitting watch out for the SDC's (Systems development charges) from the city for the extra fixture counts.

With the fixed rate the cash flow is very low after all expenses but I don't care much about that. 5/1 loan officer opinion - You will refi in 5 years and pull out more cash so not worth paying extra every month for principal30 year fixed rate offer opinion - when the rates are low it's not worth doing the 5/1, rather lock in a rate and doesn't believe in paying so much in points.I would appreciate any comments and advice from the more experienced.Thank you!

Now, the time is coming close for us to make arrangements for the home, and we are torn between selling to use the extra money to pay off a few bills/loans or sticking with the original plan of renting it out as an investment property.