Otherwise, you'll likely want to have them split so that you can deflect the costs of electricity, water+sewer, etc. to your tenants.7) Agreed that 12% might be a bit much for a property manager, although if the property is in an undesirable area, you may have to pay more than usual to attract a top-quality PM. 

I prefer month to month, it makes it easier for me to get rid of undesirable renters faster, and I don't mind people leaving with 30 day notice if they don't want to be there as they may become a disgruntled indentured tenant.However yearly leases may make more sense in seasonal markets, areas of low demand, and when your rent is at or above market.

I.e. the area will become undesirable, rents will go down, etc.

Now, you have cheaper properties, undesirable that don't contribute to a tax base and could well be that they will have more in expenses as well as liabilities exceeding the taxes received.

I read somewhere that it is often undesirable to deal with properties represented by a broker when wholesaling.

When I was at the auction a bidder was buying vacant lots, land locked lots, & undesirable lots.

Some sort of unified economic corp... probably a lot of undesirable areas banded together because there wasnt enough interest in the one specific neighborhood.

From the research I have done, it seems like the terms offered by many portfolio lenders are undesirable (adjustable mortgages, higher rates, etc).

Are those considered highly undesirable by good tenants?

Look further out in peripheral markets or find properties that have serious problems that you have the skillset to remedy is what a lot of other investors including the institutional outfits are doing so as the small guys we have to be willing to go further out or take on bigger problems... or be patient.