I do drop down significantly, but I factor in what it would cost to run my place on a day-to-day basis and make sure not to go lower than that.

I know Phoenix has pockets like this as well, you just have to do the research and look everyday for the right deal. 

This week we've been hearing many hosts saying everyday something stops working!

There should be an amortization schedule created prior to contract signing so people understand what the payments should be on a monthly basis with no confusion.

Those are good for the basics but not for practical every day people applications. 

Most lenders have seasoning requirements, so you would need to own the property for 12 months to obtain a loan based on appraisal rather than lower of appraisal or purchase price.The longer the period of since property purchase the more likely an appraisal higher than purchase price.The exception may be a "hot" market where prices are moving up sharply almost every day. 

I'm analyzing deals every day just to practice analyzing and finding cash flow in my area looks promising.

The problem with that is two-fold: first there are likely existing assets that are not replaced that qualify for shorter asset lives so you're leaving money on the table, and second you have no cost basis for the removed assets replaced in the remodel as they're intertwined with the initial building cost basis so you'd technically still be depreciating retired assets which is tax fraud. 

Investors go wrong this way every day.

Just something I found with a google search that I thought might be the basis of my lender saying these kinds of loans require points.