So when I showed her my plan, she pushed back since this was outside of our normal household practices.

THEIR PROCESS may have been fine a year or two ago when rentals were hot.

Huntsville ranked the best in this metric at only 14.1% of the median household income.However, the low property tax rate of just 0.41% of the median home value—the seventh lowest in the country—may seal the deal.

When we wholesale in Denver metro its usually 78-80% ARV, we would only go lower if it was a slightly riskier deal (no good comps, stigmatized area, layout that might not make sense, house will be listed in the winter).Having said that our flippers are still having success with those number because of how hot the Denver area is. 

Major items include clearing overgrown shrubbery, replacing doors, fixing up the deck, getting a pond running again, and removing an in-ground hot tub.

In addition to some of the great advice above, I would put some serious work into your personal household budget and building up a substantial (6 month) emergency reserve fund.

And this is not just blowing hot air.

The tenant segment we've targeted for over 17 years is families with elementary school-age children and a gross household income between $65,000 and $85,000.The only properties this segment will rent are:Type: Single-familyConfiguration: 3+ bedrooms, 2+ baths, 2+ car garages, 1,100 to 2,400 SF, one or two stories, lot size 3,000 SF to 6,000 SF.Rent range: $1,800/Mo to $2,300/MoLocation: See the map below for the areas where our target tenant segment chooses to live.What has been our results following this process?

I asked him what are the mortgage fraud hot spots in the US.. ( i had figured probably LA)  Nope ATL and Detroit 1 and 2.

i.e. deductible for a roof replacement or replacing an HVAC unit or replacing a hot water heater?