These are my standards with every home I buy/sell.The best way to minimize you risk is to buy more expensive properties, that may have lower returns (on paper) than the cheaper homes.$800 + rents seem to have less issues.

I used to want to trade up, but multi's are very expensive and difficult to find a deal. 

If you are planning to rehab to resell and the money will only be tied up a short time, cash is a great idea or you could look into a hard money loan, however those can be extremely expensive.

I use a property manager so that is an added expense but he has been a god send to this point.  

My point would be: if your DTI is higher than 49%, how would you be making money from it anyway (given that the rest of your expenses to run the property are likely to be circa 50% of its income)?

Reality on the ground is exact opposite due to investors not properly accounting for expenses such as maintenance, capex, legal, property management, pest control, landscaping, travel, etc etc.

What makes this particular property special is that it is in DC, which is a very expensive market by the way, and it has high end finish such as custom cabinets, marble counter top & hardwood floors throughout.

You need a legal professional who is tough when needed, wise and very experienced.Legal expenses are deductible against taxable income if you're structured properly.Then again, this is the type of expense you should only need to put out once.All that said, of course, it sounds like you need to be dealing with the local LLC-friendly banks. 

I have focused on minimizing my expenses so that my "financial freedom" number is lower. 

In Ontario, I find it hard to find properties that will cash flow at the 1%rule at the least when taking into account all the appropriate expenses.