I am the definition of a local Pittsburgh investor, and I have nothing to gain or lose through any sort of interaction with you.The thought buying anything in Pittsburgh sight unseen for any reason with the help of people I'm not related by blood or marriage to makes me break out in a cold sweat.

When first starting out we all want answers; stay on BP, keep interacting, ask questions all free of charge. 

are both elements working? 

This is a key element in your investment plan.

I used the BP calc for my calculations and from everyone that I have interacted with, it always been 20-25%.

From what I've read and through my brief interaction with a lender, the rentals need to be traditional and I need to provide a copy of the lease.I know Quicken Loans allows refinancing through Airbnb income alone but is the rest of the industry just too far behind?

I've had people I've interacted with in a thread send me a request and I'm happy to accept those but that is definitely the exception toward the requests I receive.

We will be focusing on property rehab and buy to rent.Funnily enough, it was a review search on a get-rich property seminar (that had a few scammy elements) that made me stumble across BP.

You can screen well, but as long as the human element is there, you could run into anything. 

A few suggestions to early investors: identify your weakness and learn.If you do not understand the finances and how everything interacts with one another, learn it.