Also check on the laws regarding LLC's you area.It can be advantageous in some cases to incorporate in another state with stronger protection for investors.

Last week spoke to a President of the second fastest growing bank in the state, taking on affiliate pools and prices aren't a steal of a deal here, basically due to the RE market being stronger and ability to liquidate REOs as they come, you're right, there is no need to dump the bath water.Bob, sounds like it's par for the course if you're dealing with various sources, but I wouldn't want any off the institutional shelf.Investors on the street need to learn how to go after the seller financed markets and buy from distressed holders, refi the good ones, rinse and repeat or modify and hold until they can be refinanced.

From what I have seen, most lenders are going to make either all of you guys or one of you guys responsible (the stronger party). 

I was hoping to put a stronger offer on the table by offering cash and quick closing.  

I have started building relationships with various brokers in the multi-family sector however, I need to get a stronger plan put together before I approach a commercial broker.

Should I try and purchase a rental property now or build up a stronger savings / emergency fund before jumping into investing?

Debt to Income - DTI - is only use on FHA, conventional, Va and other typical residential transactions (consumer front).If you're going to a portfolio lender they look at lending from a 1.25x DSCR point of view (industry standard) which in essence is a 80% Debt to Income if you think about it.1 dollar of debt / 1.25 dollars of net operating income (NOI) = 1.25 X DSCR = 80% DTI Never the less us bankers joke about it all the time because it might be crazy from a residential loan officers point of view but in the banks eyes its not from a commercial point of view.The commercial bank views income property as a consistent sustainable source of reocurring income especially in stronger rental markets so having 1.25 dollars of net income coming in for every dollar of out going debt service payment is acceptable.The mess with this 1.25x they will sometimes make you conform even while subjecting you to underwriting at higher rates, shorter amortization periods, and other income adjustments that make it harder to obtain 1.25x.

If we were cash buyers, we could buy through wholesalers and probably get a better deal than on the MLS, and even if we buy through the MLS using cash, we would have stronger offers to present.

Plus the improvements I make to the house make their security even stronger.

Our contractor has designed a stronger/faster way to make them going forward.