@Robert M. it depends on your resident profile and geographical area.

There might be a reasonable explanation (like the guy in the article).I believe that landlords should use any information available to make a decision, but they also should night blindly say no just because of a potential ding.

I have never seen this type of thing before, but this is the only logical explanation I could come up with.

There are so many different explanations.

I'm also not sure how geographically-specific this is.

Example: from 1bd condo to 2bd condo makes sense or maybe even 1 bd condo to 4 plex where you'll occupy one unit and rent the rest, however moving from a 3 bedroom home to a 4 plex may require a very strong LOE - letter of explanation or your file may be declined for occupancy issues - vacating a current primary that does not have atleast 30% equity based on current market value may require you to qualify for both the vacated primary and the new proposed subject property as well with out allowing you to use your rental income as an offset for your property you're currently vacating.

The risk is magnified if somebody only operates in one geographic area.

Thanks for your explanation of depreciation.

In that, we get the layman explanation.

***I'm here to learn so any explanation or new point of view is greatly appreciated.When I look at this scenario I get roughly a -6% cash on cash return.UNLESS I take into consideration a 2% appreciation per year and the first years principal paydown of: $4,768.41.