First of all I put my acceptance criteria clearly in the ad: minimum credit score (enter X amount, 620 is what I use),income 2-3x rent, good rental history, references, no evictions, acceptance dependent upon background check and employment verification, pet policy, desired lease term, etc. so that people will hopefully read that and not come to the open house if they know they won’t qualify.

They allow you to get funds at more favorable terms than with a loan or credit card.

I can use other peoples money, lines of credit or other ways to fund the downpayment.

HI Stephen,You can always open HELOC or line of credit from your primary house or non primary house, assuming you have sufficient equity and income to qualify.

Dedicate one checking account and credit card exclusively to real estate.

I put my criteria clearly in the listing: 3x income over rent, 85% on-time payment history on credit report, and good references from past landlord.The biggest mistake you can make is taking the word of a current landlord.

They care more about the asset value than your own credit history.

So my other options were to use my good credit but of course all of the loans want to use my personal credit and impact my debt-to-income.

Keep in mind its end of year pretty much every seller and builder is offering a 2% seller credit its the norm.$50K in earnest is a lot and if the lender drops the ball are you positive they can get the credit denial out in time to refund the earnest?  

Cleveland currently has one of the lowest price/rent ratios in the Nation, with the average home price being $107k and the average rent being $1,416/Mo.