@Jacklyn Robins many of the mentorship programs are designed to bleed you dry:(Most of the info they provide you can find right here on BP or locally via other investors in your market.Since you're not currently working, how many hours did you spend last week on networking and learning about RE Investing?

I'll bleed money.

Creating standards to get rid of bleeding heart syndrome…As we continued to work through our renovation standards, we began to define our leasing standards.

Is your goal to bleed your borrower with the hope they default ?

Agreed,Lot's of deals to be found in Ohio.Tougher nowadays but still enough to stay busy.Just to answer the OP's initial question also.Loosing on a deal in the first few years is risky business.When I first started investing in 2010 and back home in Australia, I built a large portfolio and fairly quickly.Lot's of debt...Monthly mortgages where costing me more than I was generating in income.It was a slow bleed so I decided to liquidate and move to cashflow friendly markets in the US (Specifically Ohio).In hindsight, those same properties if owned today would have made me millions in capital gain profits.So if you are looking for an appreciation play, make sure to have enough income from your W2 or other means to withstand the slow monthly bleed until the properties appreciate so much that you end up being in the green even tho you bled monthly.Again, very risky business IMO.Much success

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn was to avoid putting bandaids on open wounds, but when I did...I needed to rip the bandaid off instead of thinking it was going to heal without stopping the bleeding first!

Quote from @Joe S.: Well, this is not a normal tenant and this is not a normal rental. 

Overall I guess I'm having a hard time accepting that subsidizing or bleeding cash while betting on appreciation is the right play here.  

@Anthony Johnson, I like to call them the audience with bleeding necks.

Unless you like "investments" that bleed you dry every month - move on...