My understanding is that most banks like to see two years of the asset performing as a rental before they see it as an asset and not merely as a (good) debt/liability?  

Cash you receive is the net cash after all expenses have been paid, including debt servicing. 

It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it.

So obviously we calculate this against projected gross rent- minus debt service capex vac...and we receive our cash on cash return %.

Though I did do a lot of "pre-elimination", just by driving past a house for sale and seeing it's neighborhood/condition.   

You may want to consider that as an alternative retirement investment vehicle, it has number of advantages over an IRA LLC:Custodian is not required (eliminate all custodian fees)Get checkbook control without the need for an LLC (trust is used as a vehicle to hold 401k plan assets), you have full control over the plan assets as trusteeAvoid expensive CA Franchise tax of $800/yrExempt from UBIT on leveraged real estate Ability to take a personal loan from your 401k, any time, for any reasonContribution limits are 10X higher than an IRA (up to $61,000 for 2018)Tax-free investing using Roth sub-accountAbility to correct a prohibited transaction and moreRegarding your questions about getting a non-recourse loan: this is an asset-based loan so the age of an entity is irrelevant.

Your goals and plan usually has that information and the range of each one like positive cash flow, cash on cash return, net operating income that includes debt service payment. the positive cash flow on day one of your ownership, and the items you mentioned, the type of parking and on-site and nearby amenities are very important as well as the first impression of the subject properties. 

@Marina WongI don't really care for debt deals especially on a house flip because even if I am covered with LTV in a recession I can't rent it out and cashflow.I prefer equity deals.

Even when they close it, it won't completely eliminate the smell throughout the year?  

There's debt and there's equity.