If they move, that's your chance to make improvements and raise the rent to market.

The tenant has refused the landlord reasonable access to the unit for the purpose of mak-ing repairs or improvements, or for the purpose of inspection as permitted or required by the lease or by law, or for the purpose of showing the rental unit to any prospective pur-chaser or mortgagee.7.

Some options to consider to increase rent include improvements to the property, adding on, or creative renters (short term, corporate rental, business rental, ect).

"Flipping" seems to be a dirty word, and if you are insinuating that people are buying houses, doing no improvements and then selling a few months later just based on appreciation in San Diego then you are  greatly out of touch with the market. 

That was absolutely insane to me.Last year, when my home seemed like it could possibly be sold for around $220,000 in good shape, I decided to start making improvements.

New roof and then after hitting the market it was clear we needed some curb appeal so we improved the landscaping.

Otherwise, the small banks are great because they know the area and are typically happy to help improve it.

I'm looking for any advice on what I should/could change to improve my response rate.

The lease I use is a mature document that has been improved every year over the last decades based on issues that came up, after every major court case in Wisconsin etc.

Do this: upload all of your documents quickly, take their advice on how to improve your DTI, and don't have delusions of grandeur.