What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?

They wanted $1.2M to payoff  maturing HML on a $2.5M property. their credit was 580 and we told them we would not give you a loan but we would buy the property from you for $1.2M, provide you with a 12 month lease with an option to buy. in 12 months you either buy it or its ours. 

To sacrifice a good tenant, which is hard to come by these days in favor of higher rent, may not be the trade-off that you need or possibly want.

Quote from @Charles Fay: Hello all, first time posting and wanted to ask for your advice.currently in the military awaiting a 9-12 deployment within the next 6 months.I will have ~150k savings after deployment, 85k before, with no debt, payments or anything other than basic bills, 750+ credit.

Any additional mail costs $.50-$.76 depending on the size... so to prevent you from having hundreds of $.50 charges on your credit card, the default "reload" is $50 (you can set this to whatever you like in the app).Hope this helps....

Choosing the right lender for a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) can make a huge difference depending on your goals.

Credit Union, Brokers, Banks (all have different advantage & disadvantages). 

That does not build confidence in investing in an area no matter how many friendly seals bark at you.Do L.A. and California lose carbon credits for all the noxious smoke?

Leveraging a HELOC (home equity line of credit) could allow you to invest in multifamily without completely draining your savings.

But I'm guessing maybe your credit is too low for that?