They're mainly looking at the one property in-question, not you as a borrower necessarily, nor your overall income vs. debts. 

You need long term debt to make the property cash flow. a HELOC is more like a credit card, it's a revolving debt.

And by stress-testing I mean calculate what your debt service could end up being if by the time your 5 year balloon comes due, interest rates have hit 12-15%?

People on BP often talk about leveraging debt to acquire more properties, I'm leveraging all of these benefits that my employer is offering to help me meet my goals faster, I use RE as one of several types of income streams in my overall portfolio.

Mainly looking to start with rentals.

My boyfriend and I already own two properties which maxes out our debt to income in looking for our third deal.

This is not a debate about Dave Ramsey-we are out of debt and have 6 months emergency fund and don’t adhere to his investing advice but I liked this idea when saving to buy real estate. 

If you're at 75% or less, you should be able to get long term money, even if it's alternative - 30 year ARMs at rates in the 6-8% range, as long as debt service works (rents cover PITI).The other one seems doable too, if same type of deal w/no work. 

The property is located near Main Street and the local college campus... pretty good location for this small town.POPULATION:14,096UP 6% SINCE 2000AVERAGE INCOME:$59,823 PER YEARAVERAGE AGE:33 YEARSGENDER:50% MALE50% FEMALEHOUSEHOLDS:5,09936% WITH CHILDRENAVERAGE VALUE:$141,509OCCUPANCY:70% OWNED30% RENTED13% VACANTAVG.

. - timing a market is always 20/20...Remember that in a recession, some properties are traded for a higher cap rate, but it's harder to raise rents - and in a value add deal is the main source for your profit.