So yeah... no property manager for us as long as we are only investing locally, although I'm all for using those isolated services where they charge 1/2 month rent to find, screen and place tenant....that part I don't enjoy (and don't have time for!)

So lets be serious now... talking about being downtown, where the state put a one mile radius around the isolated communities where they are able to preserve the neighborhoods, does not represent what makes up most of the detroit experience of the hoods and ghettos. anywhere in the world has its good areas and its bad areas. but detroit has more bad areas than most.

I come from a poor family in Brooklyn new york and was raised my whole life in Texas, my family moved to the dark side of dallas (the hood) and was a constant cry for me due to all the bullying which led me to isolating myself for years.

The other properties the prior co. managed for me were properly maintained so the person involved with the 36 was an isolated lazy/incompetent individual.

I solely invest out of state and I have my broker or realtor on the ground manage the rehab projects.

Surprise is isolated.

If the demand is incredibly high in a neighborhood but the supply is low, (say you have one house and 15 potential buyers in one neighborhood), you can then isolate the neighborhood for a marketing campaign such as EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) to everyone in that area and perhaps get another lead in that ‘hot’ neighborhood.

My credit rating is ~792-800, depending on credit agency.Will any of this help offset my bad history of employment, or am I SOL for now?

What you've got to do is isolate and quantify those options to see is the drop in cap is better than the probability of those expenses.One other thing that could be a factor is to go beyond the cap rate and look at your actual IRR. 

If we isolate each additional bedroom past 4 and look at the bedroom ROI in a vacuum that's a 96% return, or 2,000 % Cash on Cash (house hacking with 5% down) for each additional bedroom past 4 you can find / create in a single family home.