Are you looking for an up and coming neighborhood for appreciation, or are you strictly looking for cash flow?

I also have my rental in a C neighborhood, but I was strict.

However it seems that some states are very strict about people who assign contracts and often come after them for practicing without a license(Ohio specifically).

They are all in stable neighborhoods composed of primary owner/occupiers in markets with strong 30 year population + job growth forecasts.Sources of risk come from a variety of sources, starting with (1) the market, (2) the property and location, (3) price you pay, (4) management strategy, (5) rental rate you set, (6) rehab budget, (7) service provided to your tenants and how strict you are with them, (8) your ability to attract and retain high quality brokers, leasing agents, inspectors, handyman/contractors/agents, etc, etc., (9) level of investment experience you have, (10) familiarity of the market, etc.As an investor, one of my primary responsibilities is risk management... my ability to fully understand all of the risks that I am taking and put processes/structures in place to minimize or control these risks.And if you are a successful risk manager, i have found that in REI you are able to mitigate the downside and generate returns that ARE NOT commensurate with the risks you are taking and do so by providing a triple win to your investors, your tenants, and yourself!

I have a very strict plan and have been working 3 jobs and started 2 business (side hustles) to pay that off and get my credit up.

Strictly speaking, you DO NOT need a syndication.

Otherwise, there are generally no strict caveats here as long as you get the proper advice on moving the funds an setting up the correct entity for ownership of the asset.

Based on your strategy of buy and hold, I'd certainly focus on the property management side of things as it's the toughest part of the business.My second choice (if you were going to flip at all and manage your own rehabs) would be something construction related.I routinely beat my competition on deals, profits, etc strictly because I'm a licensed GC and know the condition and numbers better than they do.  

Strictly from a investment perspective this condo is a turkey.

I also am a financial analyst as my day job so I laid out a pretty strict financial plan/budget for myself.