In 2015, my sister had a business which was essentially her livelihood.

I would find a property that can provide you both.I used to aim for 8% cash on cash return + 4% appreciationGiven where the market is now, it is likely hard to find 8% cash-on cash and a 4% appreciation.I think 4% cash-on cash and 4% appreciation is do-able.

Essentially ended up screwed out of a substantial chunk of retirement savings and left to find my own lender elsewhere to close the deal.

Still good cash flow. 

Understanding your top priorities can help in determining whether Stessa, Baselane, or another tool might best fit your needs.If you're comfortable with apartments.co for rent collection but want higher yields on your cash (this is me reading between the lines) you could have the transfers go into a high yield business account like BlueVine 1.5% interest or something like CapitalOne 3.9%.

How do others manage to create positive cash flow from MF properties with debt?

I am expecting a day of reckoning for this model in the coming years when an LP decides to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentation which traces back to the teaching techniques of the coach/mentors who are essentially offering pay for Co-GP title courses where the students are taught they can use their GP title to raise money.

I host a group for midterm rental operators and I had 2 people in last week's meeting essentially say the same thing.

Essentially giving them 30 days to vacate (assuming you can do that in your area).

We also use Rental Guardian and add the charge to each booking so essentially the guest is paying for their own damage insurance.