We took the reverse action and started lowering asking rents until they moved.I suspect the reason that one property of yours turned quickly is because your asking rent was very favorable vs. local competition. 

I'm going to start reaching out soon to a friend of a family member who owns a local PM group with roughly 1000 doors for lower income, just to pick his brain, but I can envision a scenario where if I needed to partner with someone to get my first deal and gain some creditability and experience, he may be willing to assist.

If they are legit and you don’t have any other offers then I’d have the conversation with them but I’d want a higher than normal down payment (ideally 50% or at least more than the normal 20%), a higher than normal interest rate (at least a point above the prevailing rate so like 9-10% right now, but you can structure it as interest-only payments so their monthly payment is still lower than conventional), amortized over 30 but with a balloon in 3-5 years, something like that.

You may FEEL that they are but your expenses may go UP at the same time as rents need to be LOWERED!

@Damon AlbersSounds like these properties are in a class c area and your manager is not doing a good job vetting themBut this is not out of ordinary for c class rentals which is why people look at cash flow and be like wow but one $5000 bill can wipe out 4-6 months of rental income and properties never make money and rarely appreciateThis is why we do not do lower class rentals as stated cash flow vs reality are typically not close

Local banks typically offer lower interest rates but might require a solid track record and detailed financials.

I would not put so much on an appraisal report.A number of reasons might be the answer for this lower appraisal report:1- What city is this property located?

Which is why I pay more, for less cash flow in highly desirable areas.In high income areas, rent is a lower proportion of income so therefore your tenants have a higher capacity for paying higher rent because rent is less than 20% or even 10% of their income.

You’re able to learn the basics of a real estate investment with lower risk and build equity at the same time.Because you're in the military, you'll be able to enter a property with 0% down which means you can leverage your money way more effectively. 

I would just take into account that a lower down payment will mean a higher monthly payment so be sure to run the numbers conservatively in order to ensure your STR revenue is able to carry your monthly payment with this higher mortgage cost.