I agreed to pay for the renovation with no interest credit cards.

.-- Or, what we do is offer the free rent AFTER & ONLY if they pay their first 3 months of rent on time to earn it.4) Lower the rent 5% every 2-4 weeks until activity picks up.5) Understand this is the worst time of year to find tenants.-- Starts picking back up end of February when this tenant pool starts getting their income tax refunds and aren't broke anymore.6) Section 8: where is the property being advertised?

It was like paying for multiple Master's degrees to get our "real world" experience.  

You will pay them and everything will then fall apart.

Meanwhile, bank money market paying 7.5%. 

Now, you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.

As Sean above alluded to- never pay a seller for your future hard work, risk and stress. 

Also, how does one assess whether or not one can turn a profit after paying principal/interest, insurance, and taxes each month?

.🔹 Insurance Challenges – Even when insurance pays, it rarely covers the actual cost to completely rebuild.

You can have a mansion fronting the Mediterranean, but if you pay too much for it, you're done.