I have student loans around 40k but I am opposed to car payments and have zero credit cards. 

A handyman landlord working with minimal help can do good work in these places, stay on top of things, and keep perhaps ten of these tight little ships running with practically zero outside labor costs eating into his profits or excessive time commitments, while he does modest, leisurely little spec rehabs and occasionally larger live-in flips anywhere he finds deals, accelerating his timeline to  pay off his street of moneymakers. 

ROE over 5 years is too low (I want 15%), you’re creating zero property value and your ROE in this example is being largely impacted by your 3% annual property value growth, that’s a bit high for me at this part of the cycle (2% would make me more comfortable) I would also make the assumption that your rents and expenses are growing in lock step. 

I don’t know BP’s policy on links.

@Alex Howard It is a matter of personal preference and risk tolerance but I think that I would open an account with etrade or something and take the money I would contribute to a 401k and put it into index funds.

To be conservative, if you take this gross rent number and reduce it by 25%, as long as whatever is left over covers your PITI(A and PMI if applicable) payments, then the hit to your DTI would be zero. 

I tried, before the crash, to take 80% equity out to buy another unit but had zero luck at securing traditional funding through a bank.

You’re entering an inflated market where experienced investors are talking constantly about the dearth of deals and you’re surprised that you couldn’t get a zero down loan from an institution.

In my case, I had a 'pre 1985' policy which falls under different funding limits, allowing more cash to be put in than current plans.

Initially buy under your own name and get sufficient insurance through an umbrella policy.