I think that @Cara Lonsdale hit the nail pretty close to the head on this one.From my experience, for a residential (1-4 unit) loan, the bank is going to use standard underwriting practices including DTI (unless they are going to portfolio the loan, in which case looking at DSCR would be the wisest choice in my opinion).However, just to clarify a bit:My experience is that they are going to do a personal DTI, not a property-only DTI (again, unless they portfolio, in which case they can do whatever they want).

@Anton Ivanov nailed it on the head. 

@Alexander Felice nailed it.

This can be as simple as having a 2x4, a saw, and some nails or screws handy, and as complex as taking the drywall or whatever off of the inside wall so you can re-do a lot of the frame.If it's just you working on it, you might think about having a piece of plywood, a couple of 2x4s, and some real long carriage bolts available. 

for the wainscoating you could use the sheets from home depot that come in 4'x8' sheets I think they are 1/8" or 3/16 thick and pretty cheap, maybe 20 bucks a sheet. cap it on the top like traditional wainscoating. for backsplash use either tile or or linoleum. the wainscoating can be put right on top with some liquid nails and finish nails and the tile could be put right on top.

@Josh Koukal - I believe @Derek Dombeck hit the nail on the head, but either you're in a hot market or you're not looking hard enough in the right places.

I absolutely would love to hear more about the benefits of a SDIRA... and you driven the nail into the point that I was wondering (IRA's are good for stocks and bond investments while SDIRA's are good for investments in other vehicles, ultimately making it beneficial to have both kinds of IRA's for diversification purposes.)I will definitely reach out to you to follow-up in the near future.

I'm looking to get in on an above 7 cap on actuals.What would be the best market where I can find this, but at the same time the income and demographics of the area would support this?

Ours are always a heavy layer of lathe & plaster, then a layer of plywood on 1x3 nailing strips held up with 3inch nails, then another layer of old '70'd drywall.

You guys nailed it!