Reason #1:  If you're not careful even a bad lawyer can get it turned into a purchase, with all of the rent credited to the purchase. 

@Ali Mol In a lease-to-own agreement, the $1,666 monthly credit should be treated as a liability (deferred credit) rather than rental income, as it is allocated toward the purchase price.

Quote from @River Sava: Hey April - Refinancing after a year if there's limited equity depends on your goals—lowering your monthly payment, cashing out, or switching loan types.The process usually involves checking your current loan terms, appraised value, and credit situation.

When getting a DSCR loan whose credit score is the lender going to use?

As the market improves, you might also have a chance to refinance and lower your payments.

For example, I mention that every adult must pay a $30 application fee, pass my credit/criminal background, make a combined income of 3x the rent, and whether or not the property accepts pets.

Their online payment system doesn't recognize non traditional banks (credit unions) so your hit with $27 fee to pay with debit or have to take time out of your schedule and go to a Western Union for a $3.95 fee.

Any improvements that were done over the years had to be done to code of that year . 

I use Stessa for accounting, I love it, it links right to my bank account/credit card accounts and I can assign purchases to different properties and units of the property for multi-unit properties and at the end of the year I have a simple report to give my tax professional 

if you're a few years out before starting in the US with RE Investing, the best thing you can do is work on your credit and safe money and start establishing business credit with banks and credit unions here in the USenjoy Panama, and good luck