When you start going down the chain for quality of tenant the odds of going dark goes up.

I'm more on choosing higher effort strategies (MTR and STR) to make sure that I get some cashflow on high quality properties.

I would get a high quality sleeper sofa.

This is a great way to build experience and get some quality rental properties under you while keeping your liquidity up to go find additional properties.

I keep things simple -- quality paint (Benjamin Moore), quartz counters, stainless appliances.

You want the highest quality tenant as possible & those two intangibles we find makes a difference. 

With the smoking, if you don’t have direct evidence but strongly suspect it, consider bringing in a professional to test the air quality or check for lingering odors.

 It's not really an old vs. new issue as you can have the full range of quality in both older and newer properties. 

Everyone I speak to says this is a great deal, but they also have limited experience.If I need to offer more info I am happy to do so. 7 units and only 7k in monthly rents, seems lower quality properties. 

Here there is no high maintenance cost for repairing homes, but your lose some control over the quality of the tenants.