http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/business/freddie...For those borrowers affected by the changes, the benefits would be tiny, amounting to less than one-tenth of a percentage point.

Do you set up a certain percentage for their income, and in return they give you ownership?  

Usually there is a limit of renovation values, as a percentage of the value, which if exceeded will void the grandfathering, and such renovations wouldn't be permittable.  

You may be able to get approved with as high a percentage as 46.99 percent.

Here's what I've included for operating expenses: Property Taxes (2.4% of Property Value in Austin, TX)Property Insurance (.5% of Property Value)Property Management (10% of gross per unit rent after year 1) Utilities (less than $50/ month - split with room mates)Repairs (10% of monthly rents- should this be a percentage of property value or a percentage of rent). 

Depending on your risk tolerance you may be comfortable with more debt but being a new investor you may want to stick with a lower percentage of debt.

And in most cases my partner and I invest our own money along side the limited partners.Despite all this, it is reasonable to expect that given a sufficient sample size the following will occur(1) A certain percentage of loans will become "problems" with periods of late payments and defaults(2) A certain number of these problem loans will result in foreclosure filing(3) A certain number of these foreclosure filings will result in the lenders obtaining ownership of the property through foreclosure(4) In a small percentage of (3) above the lenders will end up incurring a windfall profit.

Would you care to share your cash / debt ratio percentage?

It definitely would be a good idea to set up an account for expenses and put a percentage of your monthly income into it, that way the money is there and should there be some repairs needed it will be available rather than hounding your partner to get their share.  

At 29%, it is 22 percentage points (ppts) from its all-time low of 7%.