Looks like you are putting down 10%,  doing a lender paid MI which means you don’t pay PMI on a monthly basis but it is built into the rate. 

Mainly the whole idea of a bank being able to foreclose on a property/debt that they are not getting paid on, sell that property to me to clear themselves from the less then desirable situation and then we find out that the foreclosure might not have been done right but, in the meantime my hard earned money that I have saved up my whole life and the equity I have built in my primary property (Heloc) to be in a situation where I could buy a house cash is locked up in a legal loophole but I still have to pay the water bill, property taxes, interest on my heloc all the while the person who has not paid their mortgage for the last 2 years gets rewarded by not having to pay it for another year.

It may sound attractive, but all real estate investment options are still built on your number in and how you run them.

I'm ready to put more money into this house--your $5k number is a helpful guide.This house is a 3/1 and relatively new--built in the 60s.

Though we have vetted maintenance workers, cleaners, painters, etc. in the past as we built our "core team" and created systems for our properties, we have never used a PM before. 

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Carolina Beach.Our first home and house hack is a small duplex built in 1945, 2 blocks from the beach.

I built up a good bit of equity in my home and im finally going to use it. 

Some of it's very well-built stock from the 1920s and 1930s.

I would not pursue buying an investment until your credit is built back up and you have stabilized income and cash reserves.

Built in the '80's, the unit was in original condition, so was severely outdated.