I attended local meet-ups, joined real estate associations, and even reached out to experienced professionals in my area.

Rental properties dont just take care of themselves your going to have costs associated with ownership as Greg Pointed out..

And as far as social media goes, there are more than 2.2 billion active users on the site every day.

@David KirklandThanks to Commutative, Associative and Distributive properties of mathematics (multiplication) ;-)In your Scenario B, do not forget to take the interest payed on the LoC into consideration.For an extra giggle, look at increasing your mortgage payment frequency from monthly to bi-weekly (26 payments per year) and apply half ($500) or the extra $1000.00/month principle pre-payment to each bi-weekly payment.

I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23If a purchase, you also generally need reserves / savings to show you have 3-6 month payments of PITIA (principal / interest (mortgage payment), property taxes and insurance and HOA (if applicable).

The critical factor is whether the property owner can demonstrate that the sale or settlement was made under the threat or imminence of condemnation.

Depending on these answers one lender who charges 3 points could theoretically have lower total transactional costs than a lender who charges only 2 points and its important to understand all fees associated with each lenders origination process. 

Most assignors in my area of Texas have virtually no concept of the real costs associated with an investment, including acquisition, hold, remodel and sale costs.

All are great tools.Yes there are transactional costs associated with each but there will come a time where the cash flow properties incur transactional costs as well.

Also  American association of private lenders is one trade group,Thanks for the response, Chris.