Because it is a lien, not a loan, the sellers of these products are not required to play by the same rules (such as disclosure) as regular lenders.

Do states play a role in the value of a note (Texas here). 

Your credit score has nothing to do with your ability to finance it, the lender will be looking at the property, not you personally, so the property value and the income property produces will play a role. 

I will definitely let the school system play a factor in the rental property decision based on your suggestions.

There are two plays Appreciation or Cash Flow ; its hard to get both in todays market in the same deal at least thats what I am seeing in my surrounding areas.

For those of us committed to the buy and hold approach. Frothy markets make it tempting to sell! I would love to indulge with a milk mustache and take my profits to the bank and wait for the next recession to hit but ...

You do not want to be holding luxury units with debt going into the next recession, not if you want to be playing this game for a long, long time. 

.), but if that's the only wonky thing at play, it can be overcome without going hard money.EDIT: Note that mortgage guidelines on cash out refinances are riddled with "Except for cash out refinances in Texas, where..." so rope in a lawyer in Texas to tell you about if whatever follows "..."

Always demand to see a copy of their contract.Remember, these are middlemen trying to play RE agent without a license.

I usually end up going back to a notepad, photos and a bad memory.But while playing with it I found some good uses for real estate and non RE actions.