Being able to purchase a property with only 5% down means you can leverage your money way more effectively.

I'm not a fan of complicated electronic locks because they have a high failure rate and are often very easy to hack.

A realtor doing high volume, you don't have to use one you can poll 3-5 agents see what they do to get you the comps and then pick that person to help you.

Since you are in an expensive market, commissions will also be high so you should be able to cover all of your expenses with just 1 deal basically, maybe 2. 

Finally from a purely from a cash outlay prospective short term, you could rent a house with roommates and your payment would still probably be Lower than house hacking because rates are so high, over the long period 5-10 years obviously it would cheaper ti buy, hope that makes sense 

I am left to wonder, though some investors with SFR's are doing it successfully, is the risk too high for the reward?

You'll meet many of his existing students, and learn about their experiences, without a high-pressure sales pitch. 

Of course the high crime statistics cannot be ignored in these cites, however I'm planning to buy only in the nicer/low crime neighborhoods which hopefully eliminates most of the crime risk.I was wondering if any of you could provide feedback on comparing these 3 cities.

A few other things I'm considering;- I don't need the extra cash flow to live and am just approaching it to remove the high mortgage interest, but also hedge risk that the current stocks might tank in a few years.- Could take all current cash flow and a few thousand a year to pay off the property in 5-10 years.- Hold for a bit and 1031 into something else but am fairly confident there is not much appreciation to come on this property.

To get a rough ballpark, sure, but sometimes you'll be way, way off like we've seen with the iBuyers who it turns out were too smart for their own good and ended up buying high and selling low due to to relying on data and not actual organic, boots on the ground experience pulling accurate comps like an appraiser or realtor who knows the market on not just a block by block or street by street but a house by house level.