Debt Service Coverage Ratio is the gold standard by which banks lend. 1.2 or higher is the number to qualify at most banks.

Impossible to generalize like this...Some are families that just want a safe home and neighborhood for their kids.Some are young and just starting out and want whatever they can afford.Some are young and just starting out and want a cheap place so they can move up/out to their own place.Then there was a recent story in the San Diego paper about people who are paying MASSIVE rent for luxury apts with fire pits, dog runs, on site gyms,  decks, grills etc.

I cut the standard 10% that I’ve observed on BP in half due to that fact.

We aim to buy and hold and accumulate about 4 properties through standard mortgages. 

Values are generally driven by interest rates, loan standards/government regulations, employment, inventory, and foreign investment.

It's also not fair to me to be waiting on you all to catch up with your payments to me, when you all have the money to go to the beach on vacation and to build a nice new deck around your pool.

Install a standard lowes neutral tile and replace the countertop to match.

The big banks, particularly the ones - like Chase, City & BofA - that got hammered in the mortgage crisis and the subsequent lawsuits, are not good options for anything other than the most standard and traditional of circumstances for mortgage lending.

If you don't mind me asking, was your purchase the standard 20% down or was it FHA?

The standard way to do it to save up the 20 or 25% (through income from a job or flips) and use that to hold.