They want stronger tenants with stability to the cash flow today and into the future especially we are over 10 years into an economic cycle but Trump's tax policy juiced it a few more years.

I am assuming that this means I can deduct interest paid to original lender and report the interest I received from buyer as income like Ashish mentioned? 

We also looked at it as a place to escape America if we ever needed to and if our jobs went sour, we still had income coming in.

What tips and techniques have you found most effective in increasing rental income and property value?

They will lend on just about any kind of income producing property and will lend to individuals as well as entities like LLCs.

What we are seeing a lot of is defaulted investor loans in florida as those DSCR loans no longer make sense and went from a 1.1 down to a .7 pretty quickly with insurance and taxes and borrowers cannot afford them as they bought with no nest egg to pay for the shortage. 

Our plan is to use the "Sneaky tactic" and for the next few years, the plan is to buy a house that needs a little TLC, fix it up as we live in it and move on to buy another house until were tired of doing it or reach a decent income.

It's also worth speaking with a local real estate agent to identify the best neighborhoods for rental income potential.

Interest income is interest income, unless you decided to roll some of the current cash into a self directed IRA at which point your interest income would be deferred for a later time and allow your funds to grow tax free.

Also, Pool amenites such as pool basketball, Four square, Giant Jenga etc. help guests imagine themselves having a Florida experience with their own pool on vacation.In short, in a saturated market find a way to make your home exceptional, and you can generate decent income while still enjoying the home with your family.