Look at their marketing strategy.

If you want out, you have to either sell low enough where the numbers make sense or one of these other creative strategies.

It seemed like a safe bet.

On paper, it looked brilliant..cheap money, quick turnaround, and a profit projection that made his eyes light up.It taught me that the real risk isn’t just the cost of capital, it’s the predictabilty of your exit strategy.

The goal here is to align with investors and educate them about the benefits of long-term strategies.

A primary residence will most often provide more favorable loan terms so if you are willing to wait one year while you living in your new property and are comfortable with renting out your primary residence to a tenant, then getting something such as an FHA loan is a good strategy to minimize your upfront costs and hopefully get better loan terms.

If your goal is less required documentation, DSCR is likely your best bet as most everyone as mentioned, possibly a bank statement program depending on your job structure. 

Sounds like you need an agent and/or contractor based on your strategy. 

What’s been your go-to strategy for finding property managers that really excel?

You'll invoice the tenants on whatever strategy you set up in their leases.