He has over 50 rental properties and has extensive knowledge within this particular market.

It as a rule takes 4-6 months for a little dog to be absolutely house prepared.

Use renovation numbers 20-50% lower than actual3.

I did some research on the 203k and so far it seems like more red tape to maneuver through, however I haven't ruled it out as an option. 

BUT it's limited to 50% of the value (limit of $50,000 total).

Hey, there was a guy I just used ... allowed me to pull 50% out of a paid off property ... no income verification and credit qualification ... though they did pull my credit. 

A very rough rule of thumb I use in Ohio is about $130 per square foot for reconstruction cost estimates to double check what the software says it should be.

My closing took just over 50 days total because of the paperwork. 

Is there typically a rule of them for these things?

In order to convert current home into rental and to come in under 50% DTI, I'd have to take out an interest only HELOC on our current home and consolidate $50k of consumer debt into it.We haven't owned our other 3 rentals long enough for the rental income to show up in our DTI calc.