I would think this would play a role in your vacancies and retention for tenants as long as they are screened correctly especially in south AL!

You could use that equity to buy way more proprety that spit out cash flow as opposed to a single family which is purely an equity play. 

Couple factors that come into play.

Access to utilities like water, electric, sewer, and internet plays a HUGE role in which strategy to choose.

I think the couple are playing games with me and will pay May's  as close to the end of the 30 days as possible and they basically will owe me again for another month for June.  

@Tyler Case - You could offer someone a promissory note or a debt play, e.g. someone brings the downpayment and renovation costs and you pay them a flat 10-12% interest on their money with the plan to refinance their funds out down the road.

this is extremely common late BK or reinstatement. happens all the time in court house steps deals to all of us that play in that sand box.

I don't know if you have a full pipeline of deals or something, but unless you have a ton of volume of solid CRE deals, most lenders are not just going to be available or out there the way residential lenders are because of the different types of lenders, and then the subset of focus from each of those lenders (there are many lenders that play in the same sandbox but don't have the same appetites). 

Decide which game you want to play.

You lose any appreciation play, but you also lose a downside loss when the market dips.