All of these issues will heavily influence whether or not 15% is realistic or not for repairs. 

HUD's been out of the business of funding landlords with money for decades. that's one of the areas where the training comes in: influencing landlords and aspiring 'vendors' to learn how to form the state, county, city, community, private & corporate/institutional partnerships that lead to a HUD Sec. 8 grant award becoming available as a "program". if you for instance want to charge elderly tenants $ 2,400 a month for a two bedroom dwelling you can propose that criteria within your Sec. 8 grant proposal as a 'program' vendor. a lot of military veterans that are mildly disabled have allowances for that target range of rent with a live-in home care attendant, or home health aid assistant. most well known regional markets have 5+ year Sec. 8 waiting lists of very desirable tenants that you can cherry pick to your heart's content, featuring all manor of financial circumstance. they range from homeless to affluent with interim insolvency due to quite practical reasons. divorce is a very prominent scenario. a growing wave of real estate heirs are among those Sec. 8 waiting lists in more and more strategic regions. you may find that interacting with more recently credentialed occupancy certification specialists can better acquaint you with the actual yield(s) that would be available from the wide unrelated contributors to a potential Sec. 8, or locally subsidized program military bases also circulate routine information on what certain types of housing is worth to their ongoing efforts for key time intervals. their veteran G.

All things being equal (HAH HAH) I'd rather deal with a higher-end neighborhood where I'm less concerned about the influence of bad neighbors or theft....

As you might have heard, the combination of the super moon influencing the tide, and Joaquin passing by, the area has been in a state of emergency. 

Read How to Win Friends And Influence People.

A recent wind storm along with other considerations have influenced my decision to sell. 

It probably sucks to see someone house hacking in your face everyday, but don't let that influence you.

I keep in touch with local influencers, neighborhood community councils, business associations, community fb pages,  and other investors in certain neighborhoods, watch all sales on the MLS, look at sales on a Map quarterly to see if there's been an area heating up, days on market in some areas vs others, but it also sounds like this is something you're program can tackle.

Also you will always receive influence externally so at times you must block out the noise and listen to the voice within.  

To many people are influenced by people online, weather it be good news or bad news!