Mostly lenders will give you exception for property which is under 1 year rental history with 75%  rental income or from your schedule E. 

If you can withstand the worst case scenarios based on history of the submarket you are in it will give you a better idea of what your assumptions and change to those assumptions can tolerate.

She's going to rent her 1 bed condo which she bought with cash long ago.There's something very wrong with Bankers if they look at a person who owns a Condo outright AND has $150k (seasoned) savings, but won't lend them a moderate balance because of not having an on-line credit history. 

And to balance him out, a contractor whose company did a presentation at an investor gathering.My contractor, Dave, we have a nice long history, a relationship.

The franchise owner has a strong credit history has over 20+ stores and the sales of this location appear to be strong.

I would look for a market with solid cash flow but that is likely to appreciate and has a history of appreciation (do your research but maybe the Pacific Northwest has cities that meet this criteria).If you do decide to invest in San Diego I would suggest looking into a owner occupied (house hacking) detached duplex to quad financed via a VA loan. 

Good call Jack.On every forum I post on, when I go through the posting history of anyone I have an issue with, I find a pattern of this type of stuff....You're totally right.

I've only had to call for repair twice in my eight year history as a landlord.I chose to buy and install new equipment when I purchased my properties.  

These neighborhoods have a history.

That crash is the exception to the rule and a crash of that magnitude only happened once in the history of time.