I’d love to hear about the crime rates or any other issues (which we cannot guess from the online stats), and how easy or hard it is to find reliable tenants and property management companies.

Let your criteria do the filtering for you.Regarding retention and renewals, the only time I have asked people to leave is when they have had rent payment issues and/or damaged the property. 

Will having money fix that issue?

I am eager to start but can't get around the glaring issue of not having initial capital so I was wondering if there are any methods you guys would use to raise capital if you were in my shoes or is it just time to put my head down and put in long hours? 

The issues really happen when it's just R.E. agents begging for some $, pitching "I can do that too" and in reality there in breach of NAR codes because they don't have proficiency and expertise in it what so ever.

Want to understand more about tax issues, liability, and asset protection regarding investing in real estate.

Hard money lenders have a good amount of flex when it comes to FICO score and typically the main issue that borrowers with low FICO's have is that their max loan size gets cut which doesn't seem to be an issue here.

I know wholesalers and EM is not a big issue for them its one of their smallest pain points..

There's a good chance the issue(s) you face has already been discussed and answered.Ask questions in the appropriate forum.

If it's rehabbed nicely, then you will no issues finding a tenant.