I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while...and I laugh a lot. 

Take advantage of the low down payment and interest rates on an owner occupied mortgage.As far as the IRAs - they could be rolled over into a self-directed Roth where you have more flexibility to invest in notes or hard money loans.

Hey Rob,You will be hard pressed to find duplexes, triplexes or a fourplex in Toledo in a decent area at a solid price.After buying hundreds of properties over the years, those types of deals are a dime a dozenFor whatever reason they hold their value and not many folks are willing to sell at a discount.I suggest not investing in lower class assets from afar as it's just too volatile.The paper numbers look great but real life is a different storyMuch success

If you are refinancing a new property (meaning you bought with cash or with hard money and are looking to refinance) then you would need an executed lease.  

I've tried on myhousedeals and getting the runaround from people or finding out their rates are on the order of hard money lenders.

You hit a bit of a ceiling in your ability to do more deals because of the downpayment and hard money factors you mentioned.I'll give you my honest answer, here.

Once someone gets in a hole, it is hard to get out.

Will take some hard searching.

They are hard money lenders currently. https://caviar.capital/So many of these ICOs now.

I had a sinking feeling that the consensus is it's hard to get higher refi appraisals based solely on rent increases without capital improvements.