You could possibly drop the mortgage insurance, but the difference in rate would most likely eat up those savings.  

If in an LLC, you do not need to wait with some firms, especially for a rate and term. 

Yes we always account for R&M, capex, vacancy, insurance, property taxes etc in our numbers.It's definitely NOT all properties that are cashflow positive, but we are still finding them.

Crime is a concern, but I'm thinking with the appropriate limited liability and insurance structure this could provide a reasonable shield.

You'll want your PL named as lender on the property insurance policy.

I've worked for several PM firms in the area and one company stole like 30k in commissions from me when I no longer wanted to work at their god awful company.I can definitely advise you on some property management companies to stay away from, as well as some new and upcoming property management companies in the area that are taking a more hands on and professional approach.  

Across all the pieces needed to come together to pull a RE transaction off: Borrower - Lender - Insurance - Title - Sometimes Broker. 

YUP very easy work around for this but it does take a lender who will be a little less risk adverse than bigger HML that will simply say no title insurance no loan..

It's very similar to what wall street firms are doing in large markets like Atlanta or Phoenix. 

.($175,000 / 20% = $875,000)Of course, the buyer can put less than 20% down and pay private mortgage insurance, but let’s say they really want to put 20% down.As a seller, you have now reduced the pool of buyers who can pay $1M for your home since the buyer needs to save more money to reach a $1M purchase price.So, would you rather make $875k and “save” money on commission, or make $975k and just pay their agent?