I had to search to find a lender that would count my rent money as income.  

My taking a lease option as an investor/principle no way crosses the line into agency.

NOw if you have a moneyed up borrower that is one thing.. but in my days of HML My borrowers did not have tons of liquidity to go after and usually had properties mortgaged up including personal resi.Its much like cross collateralizing..

You make a very good point, I will certainly cross paths with this agent in my future.

BUT in order to be able to cross collateralize the "down payment" (25%) on a different property your original house we could call it: "House A" have to have at least 50% equity.

I would not immediately cross off a D/D- neighborhood but I really have to get there, talk to the tenants, talk to neighbors and get a feel for what is/who is next door to the property I am purchasing.

Even if you get a job you're going to have to have worked for awhile for them to count your income.Second, you're going to need to figure out the ARV before you can determine if the property is a good deal.

You shouldn't count on CA appreciation rates but if cash flow is what's important to you, you can achieve your objective.

Bankers are some of the most untrustworthy people walking the earth and should never be counted on.

I would have never even crossed my mind to keep the kitchen that way.