I know there are many local mentors who have a pure approaching and good intentions to help folks out.

It looks like you're earning a return on your SFH investment that is greater than the 8.5% you're paying on your student loan, so from a pure return on investment perspective you're better off not paying off the student loan debt.

does the lease say anything about how pet rent is applied, or was it just pure profit to the owner?

In exchange maybe you get a finder's fee or just pure knowledge.

Purely from an educational standpoint as an investor, I would say it's not 100% necessary.

Any appreciation after that is gravy and it averages about 3% on up per year after that.If I can then hold that house that I've spent $40,000 on and have it rented, then that's pure cash flow...and I can eventually use that cash that's provided to me to bring it up to speed again every few years (and hopefully put anything extra in my pocket).When I go to sell that house, that I initially put $40,000 into, and with the tenants that have helped to fund the upkeep on it over a long period of time, I should be able to pull an additional $40,000 from forced appreciation out of it, plus an additional 3% per year so essentially you end up with, after inflation, that initial $40,000 that you got from that forced appreciation.  

Therefore, limited to purely functional, communal projects took place.

I recommend choosing a market where you can break even or better on a monthly/annual basis, and experience moderate to strong appreciation.I also have plenty of clients who don't care about appreciation and focus purely on a monthly/annual cash cow- but I recommend a vacation rental property in a market that offers a balance of the two.

This is not an indictment on you as a broker, your skills or abilities but purely a factor of the product type.

I’m purely an investor.