If you have the stomach for it and understand the big picture it pays off. 

My goal is to offer an affordable monthly payment that competes with renting a comparable property and offers a benefit to paying a bit more to "own". 

Operating is where you collect the rents and pay expenses.

Generally there are multiple units for each "zone" if you will when I've seen them installed.Regarding your problem at hand, I personally would simply adjust your plan to move and make your initial plan to get the current issues resolved, while costly now, in the long run holding onto the unit will likely pay off. 

Rather than paying for childcare services from a large organization, we found that it was significantly cheaper to pay for a second mortgage than to pay for childcare.

It was held by the previous owner for a very long time, so I wouldn't be surprised if some basic facts about the house are incorrect.I was making an offer on a house a couple years ago and discovered that the owner was paying taxes on an additional house that was on the neighbors lot and didn't know it!

Initially, our plan was to fix the drywall leaks, clean out the property, and relist it for a small profit.

If you want good contractors out there quickly , pay their price and pay it quickly . 12 months is too long , we can build a 3000 sq ft house ground up in 3 months . 

To confirm, did they pay timely and what kind of condition the property was left in. 

This way if there’s physical damage by residents the company pays the first $500 to fix it.