Financing for an investment property with high DTI?

[Eva Kaufman]

Hello Everybody,

Real estate newbie here with some questions regarding how to finance an investment property with high DTI.

A little about our financial situation, I am currently a medical student and my husband works full time. We have about 70-80K cash sitting in our savings account and would like to make good use of it. We have excellent credit score (750+). However, our income currently is only 40K from my husband's job. We have a conventional mortgage for our primary residence and a car payment. We have some investment in the stock market. 

Ideally, our goal is to use some of our savings to put towards a rental property to generate passive income. From my prior experience in getting a mortgage, I understand high DTI can be a huge road block. I have considered HELOC since we paid 50% down for our mortgage, but not sure how feasible it is.

Would it be possible for us to invest in a rental property with our financial situation? Would crowdfunding be a good alternative? or should we just focus on investing in stock market for now until I graduate? 

Thank you so much and I truly appreciate your input!