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As far as economic indicators go, there are 100 cities that are comparable to Dayton...it's a lot like Cleveland in that it had a declining population for 40-years...and now appears to be stabilizing. 

I love highlandtown but there is also canton (a little more pricey), Greektown with some new development underway, Hampden where you can find JHU renters, Remington appears to be growing and Fells never seems to have a shortage of people looking to rent. 

The info you shared appears to be sound.

It appears to be a good cash flowing deal but comps are nonexistent because it's grandfathered into a single family area and as such I couldn't get any buyers to see "the light" without a solid ARV.

It appears having the owner carry back a portion of the note is still considered debt (obviously), so this doesn't help out the debt/income issue we were running into.

At a glance, I really like your idea, and it appears that the funkier, the better so keep that in mind when you're looking to furnish.  

I looked it up further and appears that pulling soft credit checks doesn't have an effect on my credit score so I guess I'll just get quotes on each properties I'm interested in.

That appeared strange. 

The unluckiest young people go through life never shedding this mentality, always avoiding the appearance of failure, always avoiding anything that looks like risk.