If you are going to stay local and considering a condo, you really have to look at fixer condos and at least 3 bedrooms for it to have potential.

Constantly manage bookkeeping and cash flow to make sure you stay on budget and/or make adjustments when (not if) things come up to stay on track.  

These sellers hand you the keys and stay out of the way until its time to sign a contract. 

Drive bys, Stop ins can tell you what is really going on in your property and staying close to home is usually best. 

We also follow-up with the recruiter or HR lead after each stay to tell them what a great experience we had with their employee and to ask them to think of us in the future when they need to place someone in a midterm/corporate lease.

Its a tough subject because logically, they are joint and several guarantys so rationally a 100% guaranty from each of two people (one 740 one 680 for example) is ALWAYS going to be better than just one 100% guaranty from someone at 740 (so it wouldn't make sense to have a better rate for the latter)The problem is that there is fraud and "straw borrowers" out there where someone who is not involved in the property signs on to boost score and terms - so many DSCR Lenders in response either do the "non-rational" thing and price to the lower to avoid the fraud or use the higher of the two (and either be a little loose with things or just stay vigilant on any funny business)

In a waterfall, the GP is incentivized to stay the course, gambling the LPs equity, because the GP only makes money above 7%. 

Stay active, keep learning, and get advice from people or pros you trust.Good luck!

I will, of course interview and do my own due diligence with these companies, but I just wanted to get an idea from everyone that could possibly give me a heads up on who's great or who to stay away from.

The help I have provided with a few home remodels has consisted of kitchen and bathroom layouts, flow and functionality, fixtures and finishes of the home, all while trying to stay within budget.