WOW, excellent job in being educated on the real estate laws especially in a different state than you are living in. 

You've chosen an excellent source of information.

You can get excellent financing (depending on your situation) for 1 to 4 units when it is your primary residence.There are several tax benefits to owning over renting, but if you are renting out a residence you want to make sure that you have money to fix anything that may come up for your tenants.  

I'm located in Kansas City, we are getting excellent returns.

Your phrasing is excellent here!

Don't choose an agent who is excellent with couples wanting to buy a house to live in -- the priorities are radically different."

I've had a long time focus on helping distressed property owners, which results in generating listings with excellent investor potential.

No other debt whatsoever other than typical monthly utility bills.2) I have 40k liquid cash to put down on an investment property I'm looking to buy so I can rent out (first property to add to my portfolio as I am just starting out).3) I've applied at several banks, and while they said I have excellent credit, a stable job, etc. that my debt to income ratio is too high about 48%.  

Grady,Welcome to BP this is an excellent place to learn.  

If you go to the "tools" tab, you can find the House Flipping, Rental Property, & Wholesaling.I used the Rental Property Calculator to create my own offline excel document to run the numbers.