@JJ S.I don't like the area, age of buildings, RE tax rates, multitude of multi for sale there, section 8 there is a nightmare, finding good PM to deal with that demographics.  

I wouldn't recommend it for "going back to school", unless you have no knowledge of real estate whatsoever.I can point to a multitude of things (including selling a few properties to someone I met in college years after the fact) that just wouldn't have happened had I not gone.This also means pick a nice cheap state school (and maybe go part-time if you don't care about the degree). 

There's a multitude of assumptions that we can make about those potential renters.  

To address some of the comments, there are a multitude of proposed exemptions such as vacancy due to owner illness, owners on extended vacations, renos, etc.

If you compromise the structural integrity of the property, you will have a multitude of problems that will far exceed what your going to be paying for a permit (and what may come along with it). 

Houston, so I've read, has become a strange animal in the RE business in the last decade,  for a multitude of factors, so I can definitely say I understand there is a problem you're up against.

I have a long clause in my lease that describes a multitude of items that are not supposed to go down the drain.  

There are many IRA Custodians that have a multitude of free information on their sites on this topic or visit the official IRS.gov site.

There are a multitude of ways to participate in real estate by investing.

Chipped paint, and a multitude of other tenant caused issues (unsanitary conditions, pests, torn screens, etc.) will get your rent abated.