Think about it, if you are buying something at a 5% cap rate, but interest rates are 6%, the debt payment exceeds the income.

You're financed at 100% and would be in big trouble if (when) ANYTHING went wrong....would the property even cash flow enough to service all of that debt? 

@Chris Kay beleive you can do DSR loans without a job as they qualify the property, not the borrower.You'd still need 20-25% down though.That's where you have a decision:- Pay down the mortgage, setting yourself up for a future refinance to free up your VA Entitlement.OR- Save up for your next acquisition.Only YOU can make that decision as you have to be comfortable with the increasing debt-load risk and the additional time to manage everything.

Cancel bad debts.

I always make sure that the properties are cash flow positive, but the large bulk of the money I make from them is from the other items (appreciation, debt paydown, tax benefits, etc). 

Probably not, but I felt better having that debt paid off. 

Those rentals debt serviced and also covered my California monthly rent (I know some of you may question paying someone else's mortgage) but at that time, I preferred the renting lifestyle which placed me much closer to work, my family, my clients, and friends.

Taking the higher of the two, that's 52k in debt service for 12 months.

The main drivers1) Local Inventory2) 10 year treasury(macro)3) Personal Debt levels(macro)4) Real Unemployment(not the unemployment number but real white collar job loss ratio'd to part time jobs). 5) Industry proliferation(can't tell me a tech or finance hub moves like a health hub).To tell me #2 will derive from the same inputs as it did in Sep/Oct, I'm willing to bet it won't.

The other option I potentially see is to partner with someone that has cash and/or better debt/income ratios and partner on the next purchase.