And as everyone is aware, in college towns, students like to cram as many people as they can in house, and the property owners in said towns usually command higher rents.

I guess your decision comes done to 3 thing, your preference, budget and what does the local market command. if there is side through out the nieghborhood then the simple answer is to go with siding.

In order to figure your costs, you need to find a lot that is in a location that not only zoned for the type project you want to do, it needs to be an area that is in demand, and will command the rents you need to be profitable, and produce the return you are looking for.

I understand different areas have different tax rates and especially across state lines but I find it extremely hard to believe that an out skirt town of Cleveland, OH commands almost 5 times the amount of property tax. 

It really depends on your area, but in some parts of the country, additional garage parking can command a significant premium. 

You just have to figure out what the market in your area commands and provide better.

I jut hit 10 years now, I have earned a bachelors degree (actually made money doing it), become an Officer and am actually serving as second in command of our nations only heavy icebreaker, this is also the same ship I reported to out of boot camp.

At a certain point it just becomes too much trouble to rent if I cannot command a reasonable fee.Anyway, this is the first time I have struggled so mightily since I started renting in 2002 -- usually have competing offers.

Given comparable rentals, we believe we could maintain a small bit of cash flow on the house as a rental, but it would be nothing near high enough to make the house a good “buy and hold” rental property long-term.When the market recovers, we would put the house back on the market and hopefully command a sale price close to what it was originally listed for.What does everyone think of this strategy?

I put in for working at Military sealift command this past June.