While rehabs can be rewarding, I’ve often ended up paying much more than I anticipated or would have liked—especially when managing from afar.

CT isn't cheap so if you plan on doing it there you are going to surprised at how poorly you do. maybe in the suburbs I'm not sure but as much as I know people call us from CT and everyone is rich and has lots of money and things are expensive out there. build to rent is a great model. we build 3 story walk up infill and keep it to the residential side. 3 units is the most units before it's commercial and you need engineering, etc. check comparable and things liek that. we came up with this design a year ago and we sold 10 if you want to talk further please DM me happy to connect. there are some great build to rent conferences. we went vertical not horizontal with it to save on build costs and design to fit on any infill lot. this fits on a 3500 square foot lot. most lots in our area are 30x120 or 30x150. in miami where I live now they are 50x100 or so. but any infill lot we can pretty much get this one on. there are some great build to rent conferences coming up too that if you like this topic I'd recommend attending I'm sure you'd learn a lot.  

How do I compare that to a comp that has 1840 SF on the main floor and 460 SF of finished basement space (and 1200 SF of unfinished space)?

I create a simple spreadsheet and compare my CoC return and Return on Equity (ROE).

Compare my bottom line to those who claim it's fine to invest where you get a $100 a month cash flow and sometimes actually even get rent. ;-) IMHO Thank you so much for your insight.

Well you'd actually be netting more in the long run by doing so compared to putting it towards the home. 

Your risk vs. reward is way off balance there. 

PMs can minimize their suffering from unrealistic expectations by showing comparable properties that are on the market for rent and having a discussion with the landlord as to how their property compares and how his property can be more attractive to renters.Landlords are running a business. 

If he didn't want it or can't afford it, I would have reward him with 60 days time to find another place, then find a new tenant that can pay what it is worth….  

Not the greatest occupancy rate, especially when compared with somewhere like the Smokies.