If you’re looking at retrofitting to separate heating for each unit (like furnaces or mini-splits), you might be looking at a higher upfront cost, but it can shift utility expenses to tenants and improve your NOI.I’d factor in boiler age and efficiency when analyzing deals and if it’s near the end of its life, negotiate a price reduction or a credit.

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

Several options you can explore to get the down payment capital: Solo401k; HELOC on personal residence or from equity of the SFR; Cash Value Life Insurance Policy; Business Credit; Private Lenders, to name a few.

So the seller cannot go get another loan for a car, house, apartment, etc. so it damages their credit by stretching them too thin.Am I missing something? 

This is the reason I quit being a moderator because of something that went mildly off the rails in the forums, and then it was completely censored because I responded to staff in the forums after they mentioned me.I think the moderators do an amazing job and should be given more pay or credit or anything.

referral=UZXgWmHappy to help review settings or share unused property assessment credits if needed!

I've reached out to the gentleman that owns the large PM group in the area to see if he knows of any smaller PM that I can connect with and I also messaged my credit union to find out what my best options would be.

Ask for a discount for prepaying for an in house credit?

In the meantime, focus on building your credit, saving for a down payment, and soaking up as much knowledge as you can.

There's a decent chance that if you have good credit and improve your DTI over the next year, you can put a Heloc on the property while it's still your primary to unlock some of that equity if needed.