I'm looking to position myself to have maximum purchase power in the future -  In essence, I'd like to be able to have lines of credit to be a little real estate fix/flip fix/hold type of person/company.I have great credit, good income, good numbers on bank-statements and have multiple properties paid off and available for collateral.  

I also have used Michael Blanks SDA--it's very comprehensive and very helpful in coming to understand what's important and what's not in a deal.

Negative cash flow can be more risky - even if you believe in excellent appreciation - if you don't have other source of income to pay for the property.

In my experience, adding an income unit to a property increases its value, but not by a whole lot, and I assume whatever rate you have locked in is better than the rates we have today.

@James McGovern, my personal view is the traditional route of good income, steady employment history, good credit score.I have rented to single mom's with kids (primarily when I first got started with section 8 SFRs).  

@Hannah Joy- on primary  residence  you can refinance with no seasoning ..you cant use  any  future rental income from rooms for  qualifying ..you will need to  provide explanation and  documenation to show  how you purchased the property  ( the funds used need to be yours )

Collyn,Easy fix you have few options first there is DSCR which requires No employment and does not look at or use any personal or business income.

I’m currently running into the same issue, trying to get a mortgage and only using my income (not adding wife to add more mortgages/rentals later).

We are looking at QuickBooks from the stand point of managing our books, payment of suppliers and tracking building expenses and income.

It seems like every property I enter shows a negaive cash flow unless I put in a really low purchase price or aggressive rental incomes.