The only thing that seems plausible to me is thag with each property, your rental income counts as income, so while you take on more debt, you also are getting more income which is allowing you to squeek by.

I'm not sure how much we spent for our project, maybe it was in the 50K-ish range, maybe more (that doesn't count the new roof).

The standard message is 2 years rental history under your belt as to rents received and your ability to manage with 75% of rents counted to offset the mortgage payment. 

You can always switch brokers.So, don't count on your broker to give you all the business or any leads at all.Though, since you're new, you do want real-world training. 

But don't count on doing a fixup and adding a bunch of value.To find private lenders, talk to everyone you know and everyone you meet about what you're doing.  

Who ever listed this is counting on you wanting it to be true, that their hook.After you have fallen for this a few time you will learn that those types of listings are nothing to bother with because they are just a waste of your time. 

I was definitely counting on better terms from the bank, but I was a little overzealous and caught a quick reality check.  

I want to post about a free service and talk about it on BP but I don't want to break any rules. Any advice?

Hey I'm in Columbus too count me in

Leverage is absolutely key to building wealth in RE, both on the macro and micro scale.