@Moderators

By that time we would also have increased the cosmetic appeal of the first house to attract tenants more easily.Summary: Even though the monthly costs on the low money down primary would be very high for that type of property, the combination of appreciation (assuming 3%) and principal paydown per month (assuming 200-250) might make it more reasonable than renting for a few years, and the other house ideally would give us some low to moderate cash flow with similar appreciation and principal paydown to the first house.

Are you looking for something mostly turnkey, or are you open to light or even moderate rehab if the numbers justify it?

It's in a B class area with moderate to high growth area.

The strongest opportunities I’m seeing tend to be properties with light to moderate value-add, straightforward layouts, and owners who are motivated enough to be flexible on terms, not just price.

I've had plenty of investors put as little as 5-10% down recently and experienced investors can sometimes get up to 100% financing on light to moderate rehab projects if the numbers otherwise make sense. 2) With DSCR and fix and flip/rehab financing, you can put the properties in an LLC from the start and don't have to pay to transfer the deed later 3) Not necessarily for voucher tenants, but I'm seeing a lot of investors have success in Milwaukee, some Ohio markets, several Alabama markets like Birmingham, certain parts of Maryland, Memphis, etc. 4) I started local on my first investment property, but I know others who have figured out how to make it work investing long distance by setting up the right "team"I'll let others answer your other questions.

For a moderately safe area, that’s typically more than enough.

I offer them moderate 5% increase for the coming year to buy myself some time to fix the siding while the unit is occupied.  

To help with the limited cash - there are options to put very little down (5-15%) on light to moderate rehab projects with 100% of the rehab financed as well.

.- moderately high income can not typically write off the passive losses against active income, exception for REP or STR benefit but OP is not planning either.