Right now, I'm looking at Columbus, Milwaukee, and Boston...but am heavily leaning towards Milwaukee because of two things...first, there are tons of duplexes there and the cashflow is great (even after figuring a higher than normal maintaince)...like $300-$350 per unit.The other main reason I'm leaning towards Milwaukee is that I already have two great guys there to build a team with. 

I like to network with other investors in the area and rely heavily on referrals. 

I spent a bit working as an analyst in commercial real estate, so I have been familiar with deal underwriting for some time, however, STR is a bit different.For projected income, I used AirDNA's rentalizer to get a general idea and then leaned heavily on comparable STR properties.

I screen very heavily but if the tenant is even close to shakey credit wise I also require last months rent. 

Although whoever is selling you the MF, he/she will be very happy :-)Your biggest risk is actually not from the low rent-to-value ratio but if there's a sudden economic crash or meltdown like in 2008, where bay area house price is heavily reduced and end up at foreclosure. 

We recently found out the hard way that the laws there are heavily skewed in favor of tenants (we're still trying to evict a non-paying one, after 7 months), despite reading that Massachusetts is middle-of-the-road in regards to landlord/tenant disputes before buying.

DSCR's are mentioned heavily, but they tend to require 20% down is my understanding..That pushes you to local banks that will lend off their books or perhaps private lenders that would be willing to take a chance on you with higher ltv as you want..

I'm partial to Detroit and it's where I invest heavily (from California).

The U.S. is heavily reliant on a common law system, using prior cases to determine future precedent.

Finding property owners who are willing to sell to you directly and at a heavily discounted price is all that matters.