It's the same thing from a dollar perspective as it's just the accounting classification of funds, but since they applied the security deposit to the rent they also took part of the security deposit as late fees for themselves which just feels wrong since they didn't actually get the rent, but just applied the security deposit. 

From a rental perspective things are definitely taking a bit longer to rent and it's becoming more common to see concessions than 1-3 years ago.

I had to build fences along my driveway accessing a drive under garage, because the retaining wall was more than 30" tall (standard building code item) but these properties were built in the 40s/50s and never had a fence there until I rented Section 8 and they required it.From a tenant perspective, I never had any of the issues James notes.

I’m curious to know what strategies you use to keep your listing fresh and appealing.

From a cleaning perspective, I can understand why any landlord would want to use a contracted cleaning process, no matter how clean the unit was at the time of move-out. 

We bought her condo so that they could get that fresh start they deserved. 2.

I would immagine from a tax perspective, next year i would be in a much lower tax bracket, but then i am not sure if i might be missing something in regards to student loans, etc...

And I'm projecting here, but it seems like the banker went through the list of named loans in their head like FHA, VA, jumbo, etc and wouldn't have "DSCR Loan" in a drop down list to select, as if you were asking for a FHA loan, so was stumbling a bit.I'd maybe suggest asking more about how the loans are underwritten when speaking with a mortgage officer and if saying "DSCR Loan" doesn't seem to get you traction, maybe ask something like "well, I was hoping that my request could be looked at from a DSCR perspective as well as any other underwriting you do for the best chance at approval because of XYZ."

Easy money" - I think this is a matter of perspective.

Appreciate this perspective!