The reason that didn't work is because demand evaporated overnight and prices plummeted locking the homeowner/investor into a position where they couldn't sell or make their mortgage payment.  

Interesting to see how the number of investors has plummeted in the last few years yet the average interest rate has remained remarkably stable.

but to no one's fault but my own I was unable to keep the business afloat when real estate plummeted a few years ago.So now I work for the dredging and beach restoration industry and spend weeks and sometimes more than a month away from my family.

it wasn't so long ago that values plummeted and equity got washed away almost overnight (and every successive night for a time). 

@Leslie Pappas- As far as any downturns go, when the RE and Markets Plummeted in 2008, I as a B&H investor didn't see any downturns.

But it may be worthwhile to point out to her that if you turn this over to a collection agency, her score will plummet. 

But I would try and make sure you have enough reserves to survive a multi year bad stretch where rents plummet.

You don’t have all the factors you had in 2008 with plummeting prices, what people are in trouble will likely not be upside down and simply be able to just sell their houses on the open market.  

Instead, they just stopped paying their mortgage and didn't receive a foreclosure notice for almost two years because they only had about $150K in equity.And when they finally reached out to bank to renegotiate payments, the bank worked with them because the bank could see the market was still plummeting and that they likely wouldn't be able to sell the house for $500K much less the difference of $600K.On the other hand, their neighbors would refinance when rates dropped but they never took out any equity over 20 years.

I was in a similar situation and left my W2 job for full time real estate so my paper income plummeted making any DTI calculation comical.