All I did was focus on the things that I could produce and control and the funny thing, we just naturally grew apart.  

Banking on a ton more appreciation is like throwing your money in the slot machine. 

It looks like "average valued" slots in the area are going for 1000-1100.Overall I feel like the CoC for this is a little low considering the initial cash needed.

The reason I sold was that I was self managing and moved too far away to conveniently manage it.I have continued with multis on the premise that more units under one roof, one structure to maintain, and one set of plowing produces a better return. 

Today, I don't believe that an upgraded kitchen/bath area and a general fancy upgrade produce enough additional rent to justify their cost - the neighborhood is still attractive to folks looking for more of a bargain on rents.

It produced more than $300 a month in positive rents during this whole time.

Now that I have 4 income producing units her tune has changed.

@dean HarrisHow many personal rental homes do you own under $50k that are producing well and have been for several years? 

Upon COE, in your introductory letter, I would produce the new 'Rules of the House' and mention each item. 

We have a business which will produce decent cash for us in the next few years but it is only scalable to a certain point which is why Real Estate investment is a perfect fit.