There's two parts to this question I see: the ideal property and the ideal client/owner =)For property, it depends on what's in demand in that market and your goals.

As a lender, it is my firm belief that honesty, transparency and service are the most important factors.

Ideally 70-75% LTV and sub 7% rate.

Ideally, I would like to use the buy and hold strategy, with a 50k budget to get started.  

How do you evaluate if a property is ideal for flipping or if you should keep it as a rental?

I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23If a purchase, you also generally need reserves / savings to show you have 3-6 month payments of PITIA (principal / interest (mortgage payment), property taxes and insurance and HOA (if applicable).

If scaling quickly is your goal, DSCR loans are a great tool for the refi portion since there’s no 12 month seasoning requirement like conventional loans, and DTI isn’t a factor. 

Ignore the $1,250 per month because that's your cost of housing, if you didn't pay that on the home you'd have paid that in rent so that's a non factor. 

Fix it.We eliminate as much landscaping as possible: we take out flower beds and most decorative features, ideally, lawn mowing is the only job tenants have to do, because we know that's all we can expect from most.

There was positive population growth, medium home price growth, low unemployment, good rent to home ratios, and low crime, all of which are factors when I start looking into an area to invest in.