I never had that come into effect on my single family home purchases since I never wanted to personally be on the hook for such a high mortgage, but I think it might come into play for an MFH. 

Which is to say any attempts beyond the method of communication in the profile are likely to end up convincing the landlord you and your friend would be a pain in the butt as tenants. 

An official I've been communicating with at the NWS in Midland, TX has said that these lands are awful.

The Austin metro market is approaching that territory.Here are the full stats for Austin and the greater metro:On the rental front, a recent Redfin report placed Austin atop the list for the largest year-over-year decline in median rents among US metros:Appropriate rental pricing and high-quality marketing are vital to navigating the current leasing market effectively.

They're often high quality and cost-effective.

Strong jobs reports had a larger effect on the 10 year treasury, followed by strong retail sales numbers, followed by EU inflation numbers, then followed by election results but honestly election results only affected rates for a couple of days.Lots of pressure on treasuries from the level of debt the US is carrying, but remember the Fed is also still doing quantitative tightening (while cutting rates) which is additional upward pressure on rates.

Any tips on targeted marketing, effective lead generation, or even some "outside-the-box" tactics?

Start small, network with other investors, and use tools like BiggerPockets calculators to analyze deals effectively.

I don't work on houses, but I have to use B and A-basis values for material strength which in effect means the real material will end up being 20%+ stronger (depend on the material).  

Maybe they communicate differently but have good intentions.