just keep knocking on doors and making phone calls, I finally got a good deal to sink my hooks in to and have your same issue, in the middle of a refi-cash out to buy this other property and the bank is throwing a wrench on the deal by asking me to pay off a car note to make the 51%DTI ratio. this bums me out but will keep pushing on until I get financing secured to nab this other property, maybe hard money to buy/fix and rent ( I am trying to avoid doing this), or maybe 203K loan, there are too many options, you need to exhaust all possibilities until you get one that fits. good luck brother.

@Dan Barli Hi Dan, I am looking to buy and hold these properties for rentals and figured it might be a better idea for me to buy a package rather than individually acquire the properties.

I told her I was going in vacation, but I could give her the security deposit and I could sign the lease on the 13th.

I worked as an independent contractor for over 10 years, finally decided to walk away from that security of having steady work, and income, so I could finally provide the level of service I wanted to, and homeowners deserved.I am a rare type, most others subs were more than happy with just doing enough to get paid, and move on.

@Ryan Gartley It's not necessarily the bank, it's the government secured loan...the government only backs FHA loans up to 4-units.

This struck a chord with me, as I've always had a keen interest in working to secure my retirement by finding ways to make my money go farther through investing.

Cost of turnover can vary from each door, depending on the previous tenant, and most of the time the cost can be offset by the security deposit.

If you have anyone else but a spouse in your company, I call that job security. 

Let's say I choose an applicant by mid-month - should I give them a couple of days to sign an "Agreement to Execute Rental Agreement" and collect a holding deposit (same amount as the security deposit let's say), and then sign the lease later in the month and collect first month's rent?

Does anyone have experience with having security film installed on your units?