Minnesota has a law that protects DV victims where they can provide written concern to the landlord and basically get out of the lease.

My target areas are; East Falls, Germantown and Mount Airy.

I come from a highly technical/engineering background which I could fall back on to perform a significant amount of the maintenance and operation.  

I would also add real estate and bonds to the list as well.I think we are in a deflationary environment (i.e. too much debt and excessively low interest rates) and expect the value of most asset classes to fall over the coming few years.Like you, I'm saving my cash and hoping to buy my first rental property when prices come back down.Best of luck with your investments!

The are victims of this tragedy and are up front worried about their housing trying to keep a roof over their heads and all they want is to work with you on making a payment.You at any time can do a eviction but like others said the whole system down there is going to be overloaded.. calls to assistance social networks are going to be flooded with people seeking assistance and that takes time to get  approved..

Since I am the money man, what happens if something falls through with the refi or we run into a money issue early on?  

We stuck about 5k in it plus my own labor and are getting $850/month rent.Last fall we got the line on 2-12 plexes side by side, and 2 more 6 plex units.

I also have the bank of mom and dad to fall back on, and, since they've been in real estate rental investment & managing properties for years, they have some capital that can assist me.

I am only tangentially involved in this but a lot of these things tend to fall on my plate eventually.

When buying a $50k old property, most things that will go wrong will fall under CapEx expenses.