Had similar situation when I responded to a short sale.

Any competitive DSCR program is going to be in the 90-day seasoning range for allowing a refinance based on the newly appraised value.Your 9-month seasoning should not be an issue, barring an extremely unique situation (like inheriting a property or having it gifted to you).------------------------------------• 0-6 Months (Delayed Purchase, no Rehab completed) - up to 80% of purchase price• 6+ Months (Cash-Out Refinance, no Rehab completed) - up to 75% of appraised value• 0-3 Months (Cash-out refi, Rehab completed) - 75% of appraised value [good rates]• 3-6 Months (Cash-out refi, Rehab completed) - 75% of appraised value [best rates]

Sans the closet situation :) good luck with it. 

In this situation, can all the partners claim mortgage payment as expense in their individual taxes (or just the partner who owns the mortgage)?

Look for sellers who need to sell—due to financial strain, property issues, or other urgent situations.

In that situation I purchased a SF property 4 hours away from me this year as a fix-n-flip and to test the hypothesis that long distance fix-n-flips could be viable investments. 

Alternate rent models can work in specific situations, but as you said, they aren’t always superior to traditional LTR, especially after the costs and effort. 

Nobody wants a unit to sit vacant, but if you make your decisions based on fears like that they are more likely to be short sighted and make the situation worse.

Ok, I'm really looking for advice and curious to see what others would do in my situation.

It's about finding a situation where you can force enough value to create a 20%+ equity position.