Crew,From my angle (we have both banks/credit unions and large private money sources), Private money is typically the way to go for BRRRR.

Will a gift letter from the source help?

Therefore, having featuring that detract families is not a bad idea.

And we do the verifications the old fashion way of actually calling the employers and landlords to get the info straight from the source. 

For a private seller, a letter explaining the “probable” source of funds is the sale of the house with the private lender as a back up.

VRBO will remove fake posts if alerted to them, but they're not the most pro-active at policing them.VRBO can be a good source of tenants, make sure you have very good photos, as your photos can be the difference between someone renting from you and from the next property on the list.

Also good for pulling comps from the MLS, having first look at properties, and a good source of side money listing other people's properties.

I've put in a few offers but, no luck yet though.The Houston MLS is a great source of deals, at the moment. 

Cashflow is going to impossible if you are unwilling to put in hours to source a deals and put up a lot of sweat equity.For me my sweat was better off put at my day job and buy out of state rentals that cashflowed.

Home improvements make sense if your neighbors have significantly higher quality features in their homes.