Once you have your foot in the door, you'll see other strategies w in a specific niche.

With anything comes times and effort to just get your foot in the door.

However, I really feel like I am shooting myself in the foot in that regard because some of these properties seem like they could make nice investments.

I just also don't want to set myself up for failure. https://www.sofi.com/Bingo! 

Comps in the area run between $145K to $170K, with an average of $98/square foot.

by not being stern and acting by the letter of the law, tenants will see you soft and further *attempt* to take advantage of you.Don't let them do that. once you put your foot down, they know they can't stretch things, and have to let "other" payments slide, but not the rent.Counter to intuition, this won't make them leave, it will make them respect you for enforcing the terms of the contract.FYI for those offended: I'm a hobby landlord turning pro. :) 

Basis rule of thumb is that for every $5/foot of Tenant improvement dollars given, rents can raise by $1/foot/year on a 5 year term.

Welcome, you will find some amazing in site and even more amazing people here at this site to get off on the correct foot.

In many real estate markets multi family price per square foot is lower than attatched single family price per square foot.

Bingo.