The reason is the increase in rents wasn't significant enough to justify the risk of vacancy.

Quote from @Garry Lawrence: I need advice on a serious situation involving a property I’m about to buy.

Washer/dryers are often abused, so there's the initial cost of purchase and the risk of increased repairs.

Your income isn't high enough for it to make sense as a rental and the closer you get to your residence limit the greater pressure you will have to sell it before losing your exclusion in whole or part. 500k right now can make $15k per year income with zero maintenance or tenant risks. 

And if it were set up where everything went through a title company so the buyer pays the title company, they manage the buyer's loan (from me), and the title company ensures my mortgage is paid without my direct involvement... what parts of the transaction would feel risky or not worth the headache to you? 

It's just not a subclass I want to be involved in, but perhaps you can make it work for you! 

Between the two of us, we are pretty involved in real estate.

I normally have one piece of advice for people just getting started, do not take on too much risk.  

Or not topping off reservoirs in advance of a known annual heightened fire risk season. 

I'm certainly cognizant of the risks of managing a property remotely (my wife and I did rent out our Chicagoland house for a couple years while living in STL).