It you communicate your rental criteria to prospective tenants in advance before accepting an application and application fee (required in Washington State), you would not run into this problem.It's perfectly fine to reject an application or approve it with conditions based on legal rental criteria.You may want to use a standard form, such as an "Adverse Action Notice".Here's some information from the one we use:----------ADVERSE ACTION NOTICEApplicant name ____________Applicant mailing address ___________This notice is to inform you that your application to rent the property located at ______________  has been:[] Rejected[] Approved with conditions:[] Residency requires an increased monthly rent of $_____[] Residency requires increased [] fee or [] deposit of $ _____[] Residency requires last month’s rent[] Residency requires a qualified guarantor[] Other requirementAdverse action on your application was based on one or more of the following:[] Information contained in a consumer credit report *[] The consumer credit report did not contain sufficient information *[] Information received in a criminal record[] Information received in a civil record[] Information received from references[] Information received from previous rental history or reference[] Information received from employment verification[] Inaccurate, false, or misleading statements or missing critical information on the application*If you were rejected based on a consumer credit report, you can request a copy of your credit report for free from the below-checked agency.[] Experian[] Equifax[] TransunionDated this day of ________.Agent/Owner Signature _________

Cash is used for one of two reasons... either financing is not available or you are so risk adverse that you should probably not be a investor.

If you're just graduating get a job in the area of your degree that'll overcome the lack of long term employment. 

While I do think that there are a lot of reasons to remain cautious and underwrite as if there will be an adverse cycle during the life of any asset acquired today, I think the long bull run in income property has a lot of runway left in a lot of geographical areas.Your family is smart to save some dry powder to take advantage of opportunities, but I suspect that if they are waiting for a reset of pricing and an opportunity to buy at a discount to today's pricing they'll be waiting a while.A key difference between you and your dad is you have a lot more time to make your money back if you get into the market and subsequently get wiped out. 

Its either always a good time to invest or its never a good time.that 100% depends on your ability to overcome the excuses the market allows.

If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.

For every success story, there are probably a lot of unseen struggles that had to be overcome.

Has anyone run into this and were they able to overcome the rule? 

I do agree with everything you said and it definitely takes tenacity and patience to overcome the initial inertia and gain some traction as an investor. 

@Jay HelmsHi Jay,I had social anxiety for years, but have overcome it.