Something in the middle of the two has been the sweet spot for me.

Sweet!

Short and sweet: These tenants were approved for our rental based on the husband's income.

But here's my question: If one spouse is NOT drawing external income, they are not able to take advantage of 401(k) sweet tax deferred options.

Maybe I should use, Keep It Sweet n Simple.

Least offer a bottle of wine for all the advice, connections and knowledge I've shared with you during our time together

@Dustin Mathenia to keep this short and sweet you can manage the project with your construction experience to insure everything is being done a timely schedule.

Run it against different zipcodes to see where you could potentially find that sweet spot.

Sure offer 20k if that's what you have but if the deal is as sweet as you are making it out to be, surely you can find the money. 

I like to find that sweet spot, usually around the median priced property, where I can buy it under value and bring it up to the market value while renting for a proportionately high amount (aka 1% rule or greater).