I see people marketing properties with pools all the time on AirBnB, and the consensus on BP is that pools are great for STR as long as you carry sufficient liability insurance. 

I know FHA has them, but I am having trouble getting an FHA offer accepted, and am trying to get around the self sufficiency rule for 3 and 4 unit.

In "general," you don't really need it --- in very short.For your question, if your income won't support a loan, then you really need to find a good deal that has sufficient rent/income to support a DSCR loan.You are asking about refinancing. 

Your basic insurance policy with $300,000 in liability coverage should be sufficient in 99.999% of all lawsuits.5.

I don't use much of it as our team is fairly self sufficient.

It will be expensive (like 8%ish) but they may operate like B2R and Colony in that they may go by LTV and not LTC, in which case you could somewhere if you're buying sufficiently below market.Jean

@Albert Bui @Carlos Valencia Just careful on the 3-4 unit FHA properties that we'll be subject to self sufficiency rule however FHA is a good option to finance with on 1-2 unit owner occupied properties.SS Rule is not easy to meet when dealing with expensive west and east coast or urban area 3-4 unit properties.

While I haven't been pre-approved yet, I'm actively exploring different loan options and aiming for a DSCR loan with 20-25% down and sufficient reserves, as you mentioned.

I’ve seen title company provided loan packages ( written by their attorney) for private loan transactions that consist of a 2 page note and 3 page deed of trust.  98% of the time it is sufficient.  

Your basic insurance policy with $300,000 in liability coverage should be sufficient in 99.999% of all lawsuits.5.