Will that make any profit or decrease value.

Where you are located, the ratio will probably be a little under 1% and decreasing as you move closer to Boston. 1%, 2% are just quick rules of thumb to quickly analyze a property that may or may not hold up in a particular market.  

I don't buy in Austin but I know I stress-test my scenarios (where I have commercial mortgages) and look at a really bad scenario:  "What if my collected rents (either by vacancy or demand drop) decrease by 20% in 5 years and mortgage rates are at 7%?"  

Of course you can be a successful agent working part time, it obviously decreases the likelihood vs full-time and how fast you can acheive success, but it can be done. 

It can seem counter intuitive, but in some regards owning more properties decreases your risk. 

We could buy and sell to build larger amounts of cash but I just want to focus in one area of investing for now (and to decrease risk). 

Your rent doesnt magically increase or decrease in either scenario.  

I'd think if BB&T had optional steps in their process, such as a retinal scanning, they could decrease risk and serve customers better.

Paying the INTEREST portion of your mortgage does NOT decrease your amount owed.How come you've paid an extra 56.25% PRINCIPAL off your original loan, in just 9 years?

Typically based of historical figures with adjustments made and explanations as to why you think you'll be able to increase rent & decrease expenses.When speaking with the property manager ask the following to get started:what other properties do they manage:how does this property compare - physically and financially (rents, expense ratio, etc.)What is the going cap rate in the area, what are they basing their asking price off of?