If you are buying and speculating appreciation, than yes I would agree this isn't the best time to buy (at the top of the bubble so to speak) ...

I have seen some of Mark's promotions, looks like plain old land speculation, another news flash, you can get stuck with raw land for years, it is not a liquid asset and is less marketable than a residential property. :)

See the “General Terms of the LROs—Administration, Service, Collection, and Enforcement of Loan Documents” section on page 106 of the Offering Circular.The LROs are speculative securities.

The rules you are encountering are likely not originating with the bank, but rather underwriting rules related to FNMA (just speculating).You will be in a much stronger position if you show a fully executed lease for $1,900/mo, ideally with an occupied rental property, versus claiming what is possible. 

I wouldn't do the deal for a few reasons, Tenants paying below market valueYou already have apprehensions toward the current tenants, and they may be bad news based on scaring other buyers offNot enough cash flowKeep in mind you are speculating that in 5 years the market will be at least where it is today and not tank.

Giving the prospect of future Greensboro, a pretty interesting topic to speculate on. 

I agree re 25-30% min required returns, it's quite speculative and concedely outside my wheelhouse but doesn't require a ton of capital and the risk looks to be relatively defined.

Just speculating. 

I think we should reward labor with lower taxes and penalize speculation with higher taxes.

With that said, in my market, rental neighborhoods will always be rental neighborhoods (unless speculation or luck leads to city migrating to that area via gentrification).