Be sure to hold a hefty reserve to handle on-going maintenance, capex, taxes, and insurance.

You said, "I'll have to put in extra of my own money for reserves..."

It may take 1-2 years and by the end you will have forced some appreciation from the renovations but also got some natural appreciation from the market.

And always have reserves to handle any unexpected issues.

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).

It’s probably not that you’re “small potatoes” to your PM, but more a reflection of the nature of the market itself—low rents, properties with higher maintenance needs, and tenant issues.These factors make properties in these neighborhoods more difficult to manage and generally less profitable for property managers.

I think the uneasiness comes from not having enough reserves/ funds for downpayment and closing.

If mixed in with your deposits and reserve funds, you may accidentally spend money you shouldn't have.

Debt is attractive to most people because they don't have the funds to do a project and instead of saving for years this is faster and easier but things go wrong and if you don't have reserves you can quickly find yourself in trouble.

So, maybe do 30-50% down, for better cashflow and make sure you have reserves for mortgage payments in case there's a rental market dip in the future.DM us if you have any more questions:)