If you have a price range and plenty of downpayment you can look almost anywhere.

Unfortunately, we've been self-employed in a non-real estate industry for a LONG time now and we couldn't document our income in a way that was sufficient for our lender - so we did a cash deal instead.I thought the equity in that property and in the home we own outright (about $256,000 in total equity) would be enough to reset the conversation for our next deal, but our lender says existing equity will always be overshadowed in our situation by documented income (or lack thereof.)  

You only mentioned what the rent ranges are which doesn’t help much to estimate cash flow since the reader doesn't know the area/ address or (most importantly) the rental history. 

You can still get good tenants for houses in that range - once you start going lower than 100k though you have to deal with less than the ideal tenants. 

That one was for $150k but I just called my contact at the bank and asked if they had a minimum because our next deal would probably be in the $40-$80K range she told me "it just has to be in good condition"

I mean I guess it is, but I would hope that her future income would be sufficient enough to warrant this debt and pay it off. 

Places seem to be in the $240-270k range for a 2 bd.

For a single person in the HMO option, the annual premium for the HDHC plan was in the $600 a month range.

This includes cash flow, apperciation, and all expenses ranging from garbage disposals to new roofs. 

I have been crunching the numbers on some properties and the numbers just don't seem to add up.I've got estimates from multiple portfolio lenders and they are offering me interest rates in the 7%-8% range.