I would hate to refinance my duplex and lose the 4 percent interest on conventional loan.

So many people put way too much emphasis on other people telling them that a market is "doing great" for them. 

But I get it if you can invest 500.00 U certainly cant buy whole notes or secured positions with such a small amount. becomes a personal decisions make 7.5% with risk of losing it all or buy T bills for about 5% with zero risk.. its up to the individual investors.

The next man who says Prius loses his man card for 3 days.

Or are you saying EM goes up Hard day one and if you back out you lose your EM.. 

Meaning I don't think you are going to lose just a dog renter.

With the current tenant are you losing 600 a month? 

With what I have now, I’m looking to invest in an area that’s both affordable and ‘if I mess up, I won’t lose too much’ mindset hopefully.

You'll probably lose the AC unit to theft.You're correct you will not be able to get conventional financing for this property today.

One area of emphasis to improve cash flow is property management.