Hi Beth, Your best bet is finding a DSCR based lender that has looser guidelines on STRs.

I'm willing to bet if rates went down significantly than getting this property under contract would have had even more competition.

This is a high risk investment for anyone to consider and your best bet is to find a long-term job and qualify on your own.1) Two people applying for a mortgage will go against both applicant's DTI in full.2) What if there is no cash-flow and no equity/ appreciation.What can force you to sell the property keeping her in a bad investment3) What is the market turns and you are not able to refinance the property?

Over time, a good bet would be to save up enough to find a two-family to house hack with lower money down and move there and rent out this one you own outright which would cash flow nicely. 2-1 single-families can be great for mid-term rentals as well which can 1.4-2.5 your cash flow.

And lastly College towns are an easy bet since there are three large colleges in the Three biggest cites in CO!

When buying your first rental property, or any, you probably should not bet on rents going up 4% per year.

I bet you're getting a lot of hands-on experience with those.Feel free to ask any questions you have about investing or share your experiences as you start your journey.

Hi Tanjaree, here is what I found for the Waco metro area:Here are my rankings for zip codes in the metro area from best to worst-1.76706 (Waco) 2.76638 (Crawford) 3.76710 (Waco) 4.76630 (Bruceville) 5.76704 (Waco) 6.76640 (Elm Mott) 7.76708 (Waco) 8.76633 (China Spring) 9.76712 (Woodway) 10.76657 (McGregor) 11.76701 (Waco) 12.76691 (West) 13.76705 (Waco) 14.76655 (Lorena) 15.76643 (Hewitt) 16.76707 (Waco) 17.76711 (Waco) 18.76557 (Moody) 19.76682 (Riesel) 20.76524 (Eddy) 21.76624 (Axtell) 22.76664 (Mart) 23.76654 (Leroy)The Waco Metro also rates slightly above average compared to the rest of the state, making it a fairly safe bet as far as Texas goes. 

I bet your ac is set below 80. 

Ultimately your bet in keeping it is that expenses (hoa fees) stay flat and you see higher appreciation (especially in rent prices) over the next several years.