Most people have those in my area.The first sentence of the quoted post here is what I consider to be the answer that matters - you need to do what it takes to get a tenant in your unit. 

First of all the final sentence  should be read as  - Why you would conjecture that a landlord who doesn't place significant weight on a credit score then becomes solely reliant on a tenants word defeats me. 

Hey @Amanda Shreve, Your last 2 sentences where exactly where I was headed.

Inside the envelope, I write a few short sentences with my name and contact info.

If I were looking for housing via Craigslist I would be very wary of any of those two-sentence ads you see with no photos and poor grammar.With all that said, dropping the price down to $1195 isn't a bad move necessarily, but if I were in your shoes I wouldn't feel in a rush to do so just yet.

Specifically, the last couple sentences. 

Simple sentences.

For cold calls/door knocking, I've heard that we get about 10-15 seconds (couple sentences) with a distressed homeowner (NOD, NOS, 60/90 day late) to avoid a flat rejection and get  them to continue talk.I'd like to hear what initial opening lines people here think work best to get the lead to open up and talk about their situation. 

One sentence in your posts worries me - "Newer construction apartments down the street rent for more like $1,400."  

To clarify that last sentence I would rather have a 100k property that rents at $1200-$1700 per month than a 20k property that rents for $410 even if the ROI is less.