IMO if I was in your situation I would fib your wife by saying that it was actually the person's dog that died on the property (and then speak to the neighbor so they would give the same story) I'm not an advocate of lying but in this circumstance I would jusitfy it, because 1) It would give your wife peace of mind (because she does seem awefully afraid of this type of thing without a justifiable rational basis) and 2) Potentially save you from having to move to a different house.

For the good people who are simply desperate and acting out of fear, a gun gets them to stop and think and be rational and then gives you a chance to calm their fears and share some food with them and help them put a plan together of what they're going to do.

DSCR is debt service coverage ration.

So I really did give your advice some rational thought. 

IE brand new rehab and brand new tenants.. these are called proforma's and they are best educated estimates.. and each company will prepare them differently and rationalize why they present the numbers differently as well.Like some will add in appreciation numbers over time to come up with a nice looking 5 year trend or return number.. other do not put any appreciation in...

You are attempting to be reasonable and rational with a tenant that is neither.

I think I felt like I just had investors in the bag because I knew so many but when I think rationally, I know I have to show and prove that I can handle it and perform for them. 

I have found very little discussion in the forum on buy & hold in expensive markets, which is what I have been doing for the last 2 years, so want to share my rational and returns.

It's the anxiety setting in for your seller and they move from a rational state, she has likely given up and wants to get away at any cost.

You are rationalizing buying a property with a negative cash flow so that you can have the tax write off, while there are thousands upon thousands of deals out there that will give you POSITIVE cash flow before AND after taxes.