For housing and MBS, the near‑term setup is constructive but measured: spreads remain wider than historical norms, implying room to tighten that could pull retail rates toward the 6% zone if basis compresses, while mortgages apps have shown incremental life into year‑end, up 4.8% at last temperature check.

While they claim to do DSCR loans for STR, and they accepted an app for STR, they only underwrite for LTR. 

For residential properties under $1M, newer platforms like room42.io can deliver defensible studies at a fraction of traditional costs ($500-600 range), which makes the ROI much better for smaller deals.

It’s a bit cumbersome but they’re all with the same bank and all easily viewed on the bank app.

It's what I use for my rental portfolio, and they've got a great platform / app.

Lets say you have a 3 year seller financing note and you're paying io the entire time, by not paying the loan down, I feel like you're increasing risk because if that property goes down, you're going to be in trouble.

The demand is usually steady year-round in Chicago for that group.That said, here’s how I’d weigh it:If you go MTR:You’ll need to furnish it properly — not fancy, but turnkey: queen bed in each room, blackout curtains, comfy couch, smart TV, solid Wi-Fi, a stocked kitchen (pots/pans, utensils, coffee maker, toaster), and a simple desk setup.Expect about $4K–$6K upfront to get it guest-ready if you’re starting from scratch.Cleaning and turnover management can be automated (Turno app or a local cleaner), but there’s still some coordination involved.Since you’re near a hospital, list on both Furnished Finder and Airbnb (30+ night stays) — that combo usually keeps you booked.If you go LTR instead:You’ll save yourself the time and mental load of setting up a new system while adjusting to newborn life.Even if the rent’s lower, you’ll get steady income and less stress, which might be worth it right now.Winter leasing in Chicago:Yeah, it’s slower — especially December through February — but MTRs tied to hospitals stay active because medical contracts don’t follow the same seasonality.If this were me?

It is awesome to hear how you succeed and grow your portfolio.An app is not that easy to make.

The biggest fixes are using a dedicated bank account/card per property (or at least per portfolio/state), doing a monthly close (about 60–90 minutes) to categorize transactions and flag odd items, batching receipt capture weekly or monthly with a single habit (photo → app/email), and using tools like QuickBooks or Stessa with bank feeds, rules, and receipt attachments so you can generate a clean P&L by property and instantly answer questions like “how much plumbing in FL,” which removes the scavenger-hunt stress and makes scaling to property #11 manageable.

The app would be what the upcoming generation will do best with and an app that texts would be their favorite (just saying) although I am fine with email and frequently email myself reminders.