If the funds are coming from an acceptable source, they don't necessarily need to be seasoned in your account for any length of time.

I have had a lot of success with Local Credit Unions.

What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?

I know there are loans that consider rental income in order to qualify (credit is good).

We also do not really want to go down the whole personal guarantee, W2, tax return, credit score route... or is this something we will have no choice with without hard money in this climate?

Did you take into account 75% of the rent? 

As long as you are not signing leases, showing the property, or putting rent and security deposits into your account, etc, then you aren't considered a property manager.

We then talk about logistics for our upcoming relationship; how to pay rent, how to submit maintenance requests, emergency maintenance request process, HOA restrictions and violations, confirm they have switched utility accounts over, and other pertinent facts about how we manage homes.Finally we collect move-in funds and exchange keys.Welcome to the game!

For example, if you want credit scores above 600 but you accept a 580 once, you can never in the future decline someone with a credit score between 580 and 600.The gray areas…I like a credit score above 600, I like my tenants not to have bankruptcyI like my tenants not to have a lot of debt (such that payments impact the Gross = 3X number)I like my tenants to have a history of paying on time Here is a scenario:  Tenant “X” gets past all the instant declines.

Account Closed, the seller/builder did mention they only work with their title company because they are new builds.