Does not make sense, I agree.Yes, extremely frustrating, but everyone's tax situation is different, and the only way to optimize your taxes is by working with a competent tax professional. 

In general, I reckon that if you get EMOTIONALLY attached to a SF primary you want to buy, you WILL spend more on it than is financially optimal, and it WILL hurt your Debt To Income ratio and therefore slow down your ability to buy more bargain multi-plexes at whim.Will your extra retirement income wish, vs your pretty-home desire, be easy to resolve? 

I think that skill set is immensely valuable, even if it's not optimal.

With that optimism in mind, out of your investing experiences, where would be a solid place to look for 40-60k properties for buy and hold, other than West Akron, as David Terbeek suggested?

I am trying to sign up for the tax advantage program where they review last 2 years of tax returns and optimize. 

Here comes a mile long rant about his website, SEO and web leads...

I'd imagine those who invest in those are either not taking the time to look for optimal deals or using the income to pay for the mortgage without caring for cashflow.

With that cash out it will put me at 67% ltv which is pretty well optimized in my book.

PPC and SEO!!

SEO could be pretty slow but it's worth it in the long run.