So today I was doing maintenance at one of my rentals, I opened the closet to access the central AC handler unit to change the filter and after I opened the closet door,  I had to rearrange a few things to clear the space to the left so I can have a clear path to the filter slot.As I moved some clothes to the right my hand touched what appeared to be a human head on the rack.I quickly jumped back and in my mind was a scene in Silence of the Lambs...I tripped on myself and fell on my butt.I was so scared LOL.Glad the tenant wasn't there.

TLDR is that if the math is done right, and you're buying cashflow positive real estate, your DTI should actually improve over time.

I make sure the HVAC is in good shape or replace it.You can always make bigger and better improvements later during future turnovers.Get it up and running and start collecting rent ASAP.

Typically a price drop or an improvement to the unit (or both) will get the trick done.

If you have access to conventional financing and have the down payment and rehab in cash, you will save a lot of money but you won’t have as much leverage.

Also, YOU need to be the person who makes the monthly mortgage payment, or the seller needs to provide you with online portal access to the mortgage lender's website or have statements sent to your address / email - so that you can make sure that it is being paid.

Your productivity will improve with some focus.Property investing is competitive, and all good investors are willing to work hard.

The other concern I have with metrics is the estimated hold backs, repair costs, CapEX improvements, turn over, etc.  

The advantage here is that again you can get in at a much lower minimum, and access a class of property that on your own you probably couldn't afford.

Tenant B is needing more space and renovations or they intend to leave as well.Tenant A hanging around is going to make it difficult for me to plan and perform expansions and improvements for Tenant B.