Additionally, I viewed over 40 properties this year before purchasing my first rental property.

If you don't have the additional mental bandwidth, can't deal with stress in healthful way or do not have much time to commit atleast 14 months of focus then do not build.

Sometimes they don’t like that because you don’t have skin in the game.As for advantages to the seller - are you going to pay them more for the property, that would be a perk that I offer in addition to making a little extra on interest for the duration of the loan.

Self employed is a costly endeavor.

So even if the cash flow is only 3% or 4% cash on cash, that’s enough to provide a protective layer to cover unexpected items.To me, the cash flow is NOT to put spendable cash in my pocket NOW but rather keep the property self supporting while it increases in value over the long term.In addition, every property a purchase has a cash reserve fund - call it my rainy day fund or my Sominex account (ie I can sleep at night knowing if the furnace goes out I have $8,000 in my reserve fund to replace it.)One final note, I have found once one reaches a certain net worth, cash flow no longer is a concern, there is always as much cash flow as anyone wants.Final note, who will have more cash flow someone with $1M investible cash or $3M investible cash?

Certain circumstances may require additional guarantors, however, just one will suffice most times. 

I then look at area vacancies, economic conditions, employment opportunities, area demographics and verify that the property has not been red tagged or have any other underlying problems that might make it difficult to resell or rent.When I have my financial information then I can consider debt service and costs related to equity partners in the overall income produced.

Just make sure to account for any additional operating expenses when projecting your cash flow.

I currently own two duplexes here in Columbus, Ohio, and I’m actively looking to expand my portfolio with additional multifamily properties. 

I passed this additional charge onto our borrowers without any objections, making the total doc fee $1000.There are other companies that provide automated loan docs.