@Sean Ross  Yes, if outside of CA minimal management. 

#1 What's missing is Profitability.....Pretty weird....I think both are either losing money or just barely hanging on to minimal profits. 

(btw my belongings in my office, like the rest of my footprint in the house, will be very minimal: this small desk, quality office chair, + desktop computer. my thought is i’d put the computer in a closet + leave desk out as a workspace for guests; alternatively i could put all office in closet.)

One way to try to minimize this is to eventually ladder your capital into several deals so that when payoffs come, sometimes unexpectedly, not all your capital is idle.

If I were you I would lean towards properties with smaller landscaping issues if possible to minimize costs.

No property is perfect, especially an older one, but with good management, most risks can be minimized upfront.

By "partial" I mean renovating the kitchen and bathroom, painting the place, re-tiling the floor and maybe adding some smaller features that can make a difference to prospective buyers, such as new A/C units, new internal doors, or maybe even sell the place furnished (home staging is not really an option here); with no or minimal demolition, and hopefully without electricity or plumbing issues.

Lots of sprinting and longer periods where there is minimal activity.Leasing season is 2.5 months of non-stop tenant inquiries and requests.

In Arizona minimally you are spending at least 300k for a decent rental 3bed 2bath 1500 sqft and on avg at least 400k which is going to require minimally 100k down and closer to 150-200 if you want to cash flow where avg rent is the 2300$ range.

I was thinking of doing rental properties near college towns as I think the income would be steady and minimal risk.What sort of capital is needed to get multifamily properties in B rated areas?