Their concern is more than valid.

One concern that I have is that I need to be able to sustain this during a downturn.

At this point, I'm not so concerned about achieving that exactly, but if my REI journey takes me there on my way to (or even after) financial freedom, then I'm all for it.There's still some work to do to prepare financially for "the first deal" and that moment legitimately appears to be about 2 years away. 

Where are you most concerned about your blind spots?

Need I be concerned with UBTI?  

If it is a normal occurrence I would be concerned, connect with local boots on the ground before doing anything out of emotion. 

do they have any concerns?

Several factors indicate the company is not that concerned about efficiency or ease of customer process: the website, a process that seemed to focus on one issue at a time instead of all issues at once, and consistently poor communications and lack of common sense from the loan analyst we were assigned.It started off very well with the initial point of contact, Austin Lornson, who did a fine job of explaining the general refinancing process, responding quickly and thoroughly to our questions.

Zachary,Your concerns about Cleveland are valid—high property taxes and stagnant population growth are definitely challenges to consider.

If they do, you may have a chance under the scenario you're proposing - if they share your concern for it's condition (although that seems unlikely since they've been living with it the way it is for some time, it seems).If you own it, it's pretty lowbrow to expect a neighbor to invest in your property.