I can count on one hand how many of the 220 plus homes I bought rehabbed and sold from 2000 to 2008 that did not use minimum down or no money down and or paid cash.now as I have morphed more into new construction and build at 250 homes in the last 6 years or so.. almost 1 in 11 o12 is being sold for cash. most are conventional.. 

If you can qualify for the mortgage amount without "counting" the rental income, you will be over that limit.

However the bank we approached had no interest in counting the potential rental income for our existing property toward the DTI calculation when we applied and were rejected for the loan.  

Based on that, what properties can you qualify for, run numbers, and project methods of repayment or profit sharing on that.If an investor is giving you a loan for a down payment, that will count against your debt to income ratio.

If you count on $70/month, that should be good enough to get you the proper insurance on a property in that price range.  

Lenders can count retirement accounts towards reserves, and that has sufficed for us. 

As experienced investors, what are some things that count as major issues that would make your cringe and ask for concessions?

She thinks we could get into a multiple bidder situation, but I am not counting on that. 

Look at exact room count and size of comparable rentals

While that might happen, I wouldn't count on it unless you're forcing appreciation in some way.