You are bidding in the blind based on what you can see from the outside of the house, and (if vacant) what you can see sticking you nose up against a window (usually).  

Uses that also target the business incubator residents/visitors and remote workers might work, e.g. many years ago I'd thought about doing a sort of subscription-based co-working space - something of that sort may do well initially, but may be much more successful in about 5 years as the area continues to redevelop.Current resident population within 1/2-mile is lower-income.

The Fed rates at 5% is simply not sustainable for too many months, let alone years considering the gov't debt burden. 

I have been striking out in underwriting with 30 yr fixed rates, the math just isn't working out for me to make any cash flow and the debt service monthly expense is wiping out any NOI and thus my yield. 

@Erik R Aho, you'll need to leverage debt.

Home prices increased in the same period nationwide by over 13%.Taxes are based on the state, county and property value so what do you think happens to taxes when property values go up?

Jason,I agree with your plan to use the DSCR.Any traditional debt impacts qualifying for future traditional loan programs.

You can qualify based on debt-to-income alone. 

You get a set amount for your entitlement (the amount is based off of where the property is located) and as long as you don’t go over that amount, you can technically get more than one VA loan.  

Debt increases risk AND reward.