Household income of 35k over the course of 1 year we saved up 18k (LIVED ON NOTHING) and put 10k down on a 70k duplex.  

@Zach Stillman and @Max Householder - thanks for the advice and heads up on the taxes.

Did you know that special needs housing, where you rent out rooms separately but with shared kitchen and dining space, can (if you set it up correctly) provide greater income than renting to one household?

Hello, I wanted to hear your opinion on my preliminary qualifications below, even before I give them the Renter's Application to fill out:=======To qualify I have a min requirement of Household monthly income to be at least 3 times of rent.

My fiance and I (soon to be married) have a household income of about $100K combined, plus we will be collecting rent on one unit starting January 1, so my hope is that sometime within the next 12 months that will be sufficient for financing.

Gather together all the documentation you can regarding all sources of income for your household and present it in a clear manner to your potential landlord.

Monthly pre-tax income for household 5.)

My plan is to use my associates money to buy the house, hold on to it for about 5 or 6 years renting out the rooms in it for that amount of time. 

On the other hand, it appears the average household income in the neighborhood is in the range of $37,000 so it seems that $1,050/month rent is supportable by the community (though I have no idea how that squares with market rents in the area). 

You take you $200k+ per year salary and move to an area where the median household income is a third of that.