Start out using FANNIE conventional rental loans and FHA occupant loans till your DTI is maxed out. 

I know the market is busy and agents are overwhelmed I am told but I am looking for someone attentive as we are ready (pre-approved for conventional and hard money loans) to make offers.

Inventory stays forever on the market in smaller markets and if you're going the HML route, the interest costs will eat into your profits in no time.Don't view a market as expensive or cheap purely based on the average price of a property.

Your mostly conventional approach is limiting you. 

Since then we have renovated it, 2/3 units rented (cash flows) and are moving into the third.But, what if we did a cash-out refi into a conventional owner-occupied loan?

You can always get creative, but you'll pretty much be held to conventional which will require 70-75% LTV.

The details in the numbers are saying the prices are being driven by low inventory and good economy.

First, they are usually non-financeable though conventional means, so the demand is lower and thus the price is significantly lower as well.

It’s not your inventory, it’s the businesses...you don’t own it. 2.

If you have conventional financing on any of your properties, and don't want to buy anything right now, using some funds to make "chunk" payments could increase cash flow pretty significantly!