I've never taken one and don't plan to, but good to hear from someone that went through it.

Someone planning on stealing anything of worth is going to do it while you are gone.

If you planned on moving out of a house and buy another property, as an example, you could pull a HELOC before you moved out and keep it as an emergency fund.  

We have reported him to several places and plan on continuing to report him to other places. 

I used to work in Planning & Zoning. 

Without accounting for management fees (I have not yet decided if I will try to self manage), and with planning to raise rents to typical market of $825 for each of the smaller units, and $1200 for the larger unit, does this seem like a worthy first investment? 

I plan to use it for maintenance requests, too, but so far no maintenance issues.

So don't let someone discourage you because their investing criteria is different than yours.As far as financing goes, there are options for financing if you have a plan for the property.  

I would encourage you to learn the market you plan to invest in now and to continue to learn about the different methods of investing.

NOTE: we charge extra for this.4) What about a floor plan, so prospective tenants can get an idea where their furniture may fit?