Get extra liability and call it good.

@Brandon Chung unless you stumble into a fantastic purchase opportunity, your best option would be to use an FHA 203(k) loan to purchase a 2-4 unit fixer upper.The 203(k) loan allows you to include repair funds in the purchase loan amount.Once you are all done with rehab and leasing out the units, you can refinance into a conforming FNMA type loan (can usually only have 1 FHA loan) and repeat.

You will make your money in other ways though... usually through appreciation and debt pay down.

He buys nice homes (700k range and adds ADUs to them for around 100-120k) All in he's at 800k and he will generate between 6-7k/month in gross rent which usually nets him around 1k/month in true cash flow. 

You can hit up a hostel for $80/day to save money if that's you but those are usually for crack heads.All that being said, I purchased a unit in 2016 for 250k and it's barely worth that 10 years later.

I think a short-term fix-and-flip loan would serve you better because, first, the credit requirements are typically lower than a DSCR loan's credit requirements, and fix-and-flip loans will fund a portion of the purchase price as well as some or all of the rehab costs (usually through the draw process).Right now, saving your cash, rebuilding your credit, and finding both a partner (ideally with a higher credit score AND experience) and lender you're comfortable with should be your priorities.

Instead I have decided to add some extra electrical outlets and put in lights and rent it as a workshop.

Usually she gets back to me within a couple of hours, but it has been over a day now with no response. 

Suddenly that is $625 a month extra cost (across a 24 month hold) of saying "I did the smart thing and bought something."  

Occasionally you can achieve cap rate compression for growth or the building comes with extra land for some value add but that's not a given.