Unless you have a solid W2/salaried job, that 1yr break might be difficult to explain --- maybe..Your credit rating is based on your credit history, i.e. how well do you handle debt. 

The difficult part about it is that, while we are doing the marketing through the short-term entity, we won’t always know which investment strategy we will be implementing on the until sometime later in the closing process.

I’m in TX and was also wondering why it was difficult to find sale prices and rental rates.

and it is difficult to get a cash our refi on a coop. good luck 

My question, and this may sound silly, but it seems like qualifying for 5 properties would be difficult when you are starting out because you do not yet have the income to show from the properties.

Super difficult for some people (myself included) to do.

Renting by room is definitely a bit more difficult than by the house.

I know next to nothing about that, but I will investigate with my financial advisor.1031 into a new property sounds difficult because the market for multifamily properties in Pittsburgh is extremely competitive right now and there's not a lot of inventory.

However, if I cannot get the property through FSBO or private lending, it will be very difficult to acquire through a traditional loan.

Based on my experience and talking to other investors, right now is the most difficult time to get a qualified appointment.For our team, a qualified appointment is property that fits our criteria, there is a problem to solve with the decision maker, AND within  $30-50k per unit price range.