I own rentals in Colorado and my lease DOES cover pro-rated rents, replacement tenants, etc.

As long as you have at least 20% down, assets for reserves + closing costs, and your rent covers the debt service 1:1 - it should be a green light just about anywhere.

My realtor/PM says $0.95 to $1.05 per sq. ft. is a reasonable monthly rent for a 4 BR/2 BA property in that area, which (according to the BiggerPockets calculator estimate I did) is enough to cover the monthly payment plus the above costs I mentioned.I anticipate putting down my deposit and earnest money in the next few days. 

I have one tenant who on paper takes in more than enough money to cover rent, but she's always having problems because in her words, if she has the money in the bank, she spends it.

As for the Media scare, I saw one news article touting a $100k special assesment on a HOA and when I pulled up the building the average cost of fire sale condos are $3M TO $5M and part of the special assesment was to cover new unneeded landscaping. 

For example, if you are doing a rental arbitrage model and paying 1000 in rent 300 in utilities I would at least double this to make a profit cover depreciation of the furnishings and leave some extra breathing room just in case.

By making equity raise small and max leverage they try to pump returns with tax savings because the cash distribution is so poor so tout overall returns ( think of Wal-mart touting overall pay for employees at 30 an hour when most of that is covering some insurance and other benefits type fluff versus what someone would take home on a check).

You can trying getting a HELOC on one of your property (best on primary) then you open a line of credit to use those funds to cover your rehab costs.

You're the fix and flip lender that covers 80% of budget needing 6 months reserves and 20% liquidity of a budget .

How do you suggest we counteroffer to ensure we're covered in case there are any appraisal issues or financing?