It's best to do it on your own so you can focus and be thorough.If your state requires you to conduct it with the tenant, then bring a witness and record the entire thing (audio should be sufficient).

Brad, Definitely a big win for people looking to get into the game and to avoid the FHA self-sufficiency test! 

So, I have a bad property manager who allowed my tenant to let the property fall into disrepair and, because I didn't choose the contractor he recommended, he has let my property sit untenanted x 8 months, not following through on getting me 2 comparable quotes...So, I now have to have $36,000 worth of repairs performed on the inside of the property and probably an additional $20,000 on the exterior (the latter can wait until I have a tenant...)The business accounts associated with the LLC's (jointly owned by my wife and I) that own my rentals don't have sufficient funds to pay for the repairs.

So, now a little of my new perspective being with a PM: you most likely don't have the skills or the bandwidth to do the underwriting/qualification of an applicant sufficiently to bring the risk of delinquency and/or eviction down to where your stomach can handle it. 

You can make a ballpark estimate which should be sufficient.

In the end, there were just too many factors that resided in the "gray" area and that were not being addressed with sufficient transparency, so, I walked.

If any give is preferred, a card in my opinion is sufficient.  

If you do, a bank statement should be sufficient. 

Up to 2 families ( difficult to get a loan for more with the self-sufficiency test ).

Where population growth is stagnant or falling, the current housing supply is sufficient so there is little increase in prices.