Major renovations are planned: new roof, new HVAC, tearing down walls to increase HLA, licensed contractors on the premises, and some earthwork around the house to prevent rainwater drainage going through the house foundation.Thank you in advance!

So if your rent is less than a mortgage payment + monthly property taxes + homeowner's insurance and PMI (if applicable), you might actually be increasing your purchasing power by renting!

As a real estate investor how can I increase my chances of having my contract chosen over others?

You always make most if you do the development and even creating the lot splits will increase value. 

If there's a positive side, a housing crash decreases homeownership, pushing people to turn to renting - increasing the supply of potential tenants.

All the previous home owners that were displaced through foreclosure became renters, thereby increasing rental demand.

I have told the tenants that there will be a rent increase if their sister-in-law, but I am unsure of how much extra should be charged.

Basically, for reasons I don't know, they didn't want to do business with me.Back to the 1.2 rule, I haven't had problems with another lender to increase my portfolio loan guidance they gave me about a year ago to add more properties, so that's why I also think there was something else that was not shared with me.

I still have to rehab the property before any of that, but it’s definitely going to exponentially increase my value.

Small investment on your part to do a bit of painting and carpet cleaning could very likely increase the perceived value quite a bit.