Unless you have some sort of subject matter expertise or access to an unfair advantage (cheap labor, ways to source off market deals, etc.), index funds are likely to provide an equal or better return with a MUCH lower hassle factor and more liquidity.

The real estate investing industry uses "Classes" to rank property performance risk, but there's NO agreed upon industry model:(Here's what we use for our Metro Detroit market:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Now that the unit is finished, it's going to be listed for $2,450/month and the same model on similar lots are appraising for $410k.

I actually believe in this business model. 

A furnished LTR model sounds more appropriate for students as there shouldn't be much movement outside of summer months.

There isn't much I can add here except for the local expertise of the Boise area and our sister company property management team get these inquires often from tenants - so we have seen many ways how not to inquire about it and a few good ways haha.

As far as its value, I'd agree with @Ian McDonald that it is something you could build yourself with the right amount of excel expertise and plenty of time.

Are you going to live there also, or do you want to operate a shared housing model in a single-family home with tenants?

Flipping homes can be an amazing business model but there is definitely a higher chance of you losing money then other avenues so if your afraid of costly mistakes that might not be the best way to start then.

A couple things:Personally, I loathe the arbitrage model.