When I ran the deal by them and how I was mapping to pull it ofl w/the hm 1st for 70%, have the seller sign a contract to carryback 40% and the difference between the 60% in hard money funds that the seller was actually going to receive and the 70% that the hml was actually funding, I was going to pay all the deal costs(closing fees, points, etc..). 

It really is a great state with natural beauty and pockets of cultural richness.  

While Freddie allows you to have up to 10 mortgages(but 30% down for mortgage 5-10), (Fannie goes only up to 6, but 25% down) there is a problem that I ran into.Even though you can have up to 10 mortgages, you can *not* do a cash-out REFI if you already have more than 4 mortgages.This was a very unwelcome surprise for me as I had a duplex in Stockton, CA that I bought outright and I wanted to get the cash out of it.

I ran into a man who sells homes and told me he's a millionaire and how often he travels.

I ran into this myself, although my tenant wasn't a wackadoodle like yours sounds to be.

The numbers I ran on this seems like a good deal on the surface - but as you said - with all the deferred maintenance that will have to go into it the payoff may not be there.

Granted the RR has been fairly consistent between 5-10% and even up to 15%, some neighborhoods have been more adamant to meet and negotiate deals (which I believe stems from the demographic, average age of the residential area, and simply the culture of the neighborhood) My skill sets and insight into print marketing has been key in building an emotional response, and thus providing qualified leads.

Ithaca is a beautiful city with a great culture.

It's local government might be behind the curve a bit, but the culture of the city is changing and becoming rather trendy.  

Fun Fact: I ran into that same ex-tenant later and he admitted that their new place did come with some drawbacks, like a monthly $500 AC bill, vs. $200 in my property!