@Lance Luvaul I'm guessing your Dad's account has been open for a long time, has a reasonably high credit line, a reasonably low monthly balance relative to that credit line, and no history of late payments.  

1) credit score ….if you can  get  your  rev  debt  spread out so that all card  balances are under  30% of the cards  max limit - this  should help your score improve 2) contact a lender/ loan officer to begin the pre approval process ...you can use whatever   hypothetical you want to and then  adjust  the parameters  as  the file begins  taking shape ...this  process should be easy and free ...definitely get this  completed and in place  before y you begin  property looking

The only way to get a truly accurate number is to get the outstanding balance from the lender, which usually requires cooperation from the owner. 

Also have as many checks and balances as you can.

At time of closing, how do we recoup any outstanding ledger balances from our tenants? 

Balancing your investment portfolio is an ongoing task.

And Fred the head credit officer at the bank said.. well fico while a barometer thats pretty good.. a fico wont pay you back.. a strong balance sheet and assets is how you get paid back..

Since you have rental properties that cash flow, this will counter balance the mortgage debt. 

So the next month your payment will be lower than it was the month before because you're being charged interest on the remaining balance every month not the total amount of funds received.

Almost a month later he is asking for his balance in full via venmo, again he has not called me back.I want to explain to him all the reasons why he will not receive his balance in full but am not going to hunt this guy down.