They beat my existing premium by over 30% without sacrificing coverage (I did choose a slightly higher deductible though to get some extra savings here).

For some extra context, their lease expires in about 5 months, so this landlord transition happened midway through their leases. 

Since the properties are in New York you have a few extra steps you need to do to keep all of your funds out of NYs hands at closing.Here's an interesting BP thread on the South Carolina property tax issue you mentioned. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/725/topics/604427-south.... 

You either have to earn extra money via sweat equity (working as your own PM or do the renovation work), or you have to be ok with a negative cash flow.  

It also allows gives you greater flexibility.Plus, once you flip the home and make a few dollars, you should be able to pay the HELOC to a zero balance as well as having extra funds to throw in your war chest.

Politely and clearly, make it extra clear that all information will be verified including income prior to the signing of any lease.  

Class C and D areas/properties will always cash flow better on paper, but on paper things like extra repairs, turnover, evictions and such are often not taken into account. 

Going direct saves you and the seller money, giving you a lower cost to entry which helps all your numbers, but you have to put in the extra work to find that deal.

If appreciation is slow and steady, and no extra liquidity is available, the basic fundamentals of personal finance do catch up to this investor.

So your saying select No Damage Protection and just submit an extra charge when it's warranted?