I guess a flat seasonal fee like any insurance policy, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that policies are enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.6.

I have recently switched my insurance from home owners to landlord policy.

To summerize, a DSCR loan, aka lite doc or business purpose loan, uses the rents you receive on the property and divided by the new loan PITI to receive a ratio.

It’s standard practice and an essential safeguard for landlords.Trust your instincts and treat this as a non-negotiable policy.

Get some policies and procedures in place.

Re 3X 6X not sure what you are speaking about.I was addressing reserve requirements which do not have anything to do with PITI 

If your property management company is good and has built an internal maintenance team which has set rates and had strong relationship relationships with licensed contractor which should keep costs in control, you should never need to shop contractors on your own I wouldn't think.So in short, our policy is give us your preferred contractors upfront if you have them, but then we work all tickets to resolution including dispatch, and payment of invoices.This is of course for operational expenses.  

My net rental income was $300 to $500 a month, not enough to cover the mortgage payment (PITI) so I'm negative on what was supposed to cash flow on paper.

Several options you can explore to get the down payment capital: Solo401k; HELOC on personal residence or from equity of the SFR; Cash Value Life Insurance Policy; Business Credit; Private Lenders, to name a few.