So I found a site that tracks rental trends in the Spokane area: Spokane rental trendsIt looks to me like 3% is not an unreasonable rent increase over the past 3 years, in fact it appears to be closer to 4% per year.

My biggest hurdle would be when refinancing time comes.

I think you will need to provide some analysis examples of the properties you intend to target.Your overall plan/goals are not unreasonable.  

Also, there are regulations for parking spaces needed, and other hurdles that makes it almost impossible to buy a big old house and turn it into a rooming house (I thought about doing it for the increased cash flow until I dug into the subject a little).  

Has anyone come across this hurdle? 

If so, what hurdles did you come across during that process?

Depending on your reinvestment opportunities (return rate) and your opportunity/hurdle costs of other capital sources, an extra $2700 in pocket today, might be worth paying an additional 50K for the asset.One might also convince themselves it is a better choice to pay 2.5 times more in the way of interest (252K) in exchange for $1100/yr in pocket and the security of a fixed payment for half a century ... though, personally, the inflexibility of being corralled that long could never be worth it.  

Our only hurdle as with most just starting out is cash flow. 

Having my license threw me off my investing game for quite awhile, but I've managed to get around the hurdles but still find it challenging to navigate.There are other ways to comp your properties without the MLS and you may find it better to stick with those methods.If you do decide to get your license I wish you the best of luck!  

Financing and funding is one of the hurdles many investors have but if you really get out there you should be able to find some options.Good luck!