You may need to pay points if you put less than 20% down, but lots of no point options once you get to 20% down as long as you have decent credit scores. 

Not a bad return from appreciation alone. 

Good move, or bad? 

So, you will be choosing from new ones and bad ones, or sometimes someone being nice, but you will overpay.

Bad management can tank a deal just as fast as anything else.Did you fire the manager and work on finding new management?

Others have little/no experience and will give you bad advice that takes you down the wrong path.I recommend you focus on educating yourself while saving more money. 

Tyler,Within my 20 years of experience as a landlord, if I had $150k and good credit, I’d focus on either flips for fast capital or rentals for long-term cash flow—trying both at once can slow you down.

What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?

The sub 550 credit score people come out of the woodwork to apply for this home. 

Open ended contracts, particularly verbal ones, usually end badly.