@John Matthew Johnston 80% of the time, it's a thankless job:(You're never fast enough for complaining tenants, nor fast enough or cheap enough for owners.To have any chance of success, you have to be extremely organized, or every day starts with your hair on fire!

If you want to work with multiple agents, those agents know there's a very low chance of ever earning a dime, so they won't waste their time.Agents do much more than find property.

Interest rates atm seem quite high so will ride this out a bit longer (and ratios will continue to improve over time.) 

It’s worth reaching out to your lender to discuss the specifics and get a quote based on your improved property value.

That’ll create higher chances of your project finishing ahead of time and create better alignment with you and your general contractor.

I pushed the deal forward with multiple banks understanding that there was a good chance a banker would get pushback from underwriting later in the process.

Over the past few months, I’ve been diving into Brandon Turner’s books and bingeing Dave’s BiggerPockets podcast whenever I have the chance.

This includes contacting the applicant’s employer and speaking with their supervisor to confirm job stability, income, and reliability​. if the person has not been employed at their place of employment they would require a guarantorCredit Score and Debts: Applicants need a minimum credit score of 620, and while we review debts, medical debts are generally not disqualifying unless they impact overall financial health.Criminal History: We do review criminal history to ensure safety and security for our tenants, while remaining mindful of state and federal guidelines.Rental History: Positive references from past landlords, with no evictions or significant lease violations in the past five years, are essential. and we can see into the court system if they have an eviction judgement.Release of Information: We include a release form allowing us to verify employment and rental history directly, which helps us get a clearer picture of an applicant’s background.This process has worked well so far, but I’m always open to improving.

Do you by chance have it written anywhere to close all doors and windows? 

And someone jumping into this as a complete newbie can expect that they have a decent chance of making some expensive newbie mistakes.