Furnishing a 5000sqft house is not a cheap proposition; have confidence it will yield good results before you continue moving in that direction.

Most referrals are 2-way streets, so if you have a value proposition, they'll hear you out. 

Sell when your value proposition has played out, you have another investment which has a higher return, or you think something about the fundamentals of the underlying asset has changed/you learn something you didn't know before you bought which changes the fundamentals.

My question on the long term vs. short term was based on the cash flow proposition primarily.

I have a proposition.

Looking for my first rental and had a proposition from a friend trying to get rid of his.

This is a low risk proposition anyway as business cards are pretty cheap.

California voters passed a proposition requiring legislators to forfeit permanently a day's pay for every day they are late with the budget.

The as-is clause just states that the seller isn't willing to make any repairs for issues that come up in the inspection.Yes, if things come up you can absolutely negotiate a credit and/or repairs to be done if there is an as-is clause. 50/50 proposition if the seller will be willing to play ball. 

Your properties are eating up more of their time than properties that produce 50% - 100% more income so it's a losing proposition for them.