This way, you can get rid of PMI after some time.Refinance over a short-period of time may not be worthwhile(especially if no appreciation) as the closing costs(especially on a huge purchase price) will be high.Best of luck!

If I could purchase it I would obviously get a great rate and with some work the appreciation would be huge.

Originally I loved the idea  of house hacking but we like our house now and there really isn’t a huge market for that in Maryland (there’s a few and bunch in the city).  

I am a firm believer that personality and compatibility with the home are huge when screening tenants. 

Hi Petur,It can definitely be beneficial to bundle everything with one personal lines company since the investment properties are in your personal name. 

Not keen on taking a property that I have to feed each month.I guess my goal is to have some income producing properties that myself (partner) can self manage, I already run four small businesses that I am trying to grow and really love working on. 118 properties would be a HUGE cash flow generator for sure but I think it would chew away time from the businesses I would love to build and fall in my overall passion :)

Getting that down payment isn't a small step, a huge step!  

Your background in the trades is going to be a huge advantage moving forward.

I don't have a lender yet but just read the "refinance" section of David Greene's book "Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat" and he suggests getting the lending secured on the front end so that you know what to expect when purchasing as they can make a huge impact on the BRRRR strategy working or not. 

Fill it in (or cover it and make it into a huge deck as one landlord did around here).