I worked in private equity doing primarily multifamily and office acquisitions, asset management, and development for about 7 years until the 2008 financial crisis, when I transitioned to the debt side working at Freddie Mac Multifamily as a producer in the Southeast Region. 

You can buy/sell for other investors to produce additional revenue and to build relationships that can lead to more deals for yourself.It takes effort.

But i quickly realized buying a property between 2mil and 3mil after paying 30 year mortgage would produce about the same cash on cash (9% ?) 

Hard money loans don't typically look at you so much as they look at the deals ability to produce sufficient income for the debt service.

Plus, then when I move out in a year, I would have a better idea as to what the property will produce once fully rented out.  

There are paid services such as broker metric to look up top producer in your agent, or if you have access to local mls, you can look it up and sorted by production as well.I would say the best free way to do it is to just circle the area you service and call/txt all the active listing and introduce yourself.

Just to allay any fears up front, I generally have my funds invested conservatively, and I have a significant amount still in cash to continue investing in what I expect to be some great deals in syndications and other private deals in the coming year or two.With that said, I want to place a big bet (big for me anyway - say $10,000-20,000) on whatever I conclude is likely to produce the greatest return over the coming 2-5 years from the current situation.Let's assume it's a given that most here will bet their time and money on their own company first. 

What's the point for commercial lenders to consider individual's DTI for a loan on an income producing property owned by an entity? 

Rather than give advise as to the feasibility of your project, here are the initial steps you can investigate to determine the likelihood;1.Go to the local overseeing zoning body.  

or are you just scooping up small-minimally producing cash flow properties to build up your portfolio in general?