Income to Debt Ratio challenges

[John Hilyard]

Ive been doing rentals since 2016, but just last year went into it fulltime. I have over 10 properties and all cashflow. Last year I paid myself to do the contracting work, as its something I do and enjoy. At tax time, my tax person said all that 1x income I pay myself for 1st year renovations is categorized as a deduction on my tax return and not income. Which is good for paying less taxes, but bad for debt-to-income ratios and getting loans. This led to showing a low income to debt ratio on my taxes and now challenging to get banks to give me more loans.

Any ideas would be helpful.

Thank you.