One investment book I've read and used tells me to buy houses that have 3 or more bedrooms, that 'the overwhelming majority of homebuyers prefer a 3+ 2 bath house and renters are the same, competing at a disadvantage with not a big difference in price', 'three bedroom houses will rent faster and stay rented longer' he says.

Dis/ advantages?

You are always going to be at a disadvantage to full time agents.

I have not heard of upgrades to the electrical panel/service on install, but in your case, that's a good break.The disadvantages are: The leasing company will require that your roof be 5 years old or less, so you might need to replace the existing roof.There will most likely be a lien on the property for the value of the equipment. 

I would try to apply though to compare advantages and disadvantages. 

Lots of Disadvantages, No advantages.  

There are plenty of advantages and disadvantages to owning both asset classes but you've got to take the time to weigh them against each other.

@Alexander PerskyThere's a few disadvantages to 0% down:1) No equity in the property to allow for market fluctuations.2) If you are using a bank, you'll be paying PMI which now has a required carrying period.3) Interest rate will be higher.4) Monthly payment will be higher so harder to cashflow.There's lots of great reasons to do this sort of financing.

No matter what way you slice this situation you are at an informational disadvantage to your partner from an overall experience point of view and with regards to insider knowledge of these specific deals.

Those two things, combined with the increased tendency from buyers to waive the home inspection puts me at a huge disadvantage so just trying to find an edge somewhere.