It's townhouse style garden apartments, 2bd 1ba in a C+/B- area. 

They grow gardens, have kids swimming pool etc Which is why i am considering installing meters and bill them directly

In terms of investing, would it be smarter to buy a town house in the Pembroke Pines, Miami Gardens area, or to buy a house a little further up north?

My cash flow buyers are in the 'off brand' locations in south city (C Class), the investment/development adjacent areas of North City (d class) and parts of North County.My A & B class buyers are in Benton Park, Benton Park west off Cherokee, Christy Park, Princeton Heights, Southwest Gardens, and North & South Hampton neighborhoods.  

Here are a few client cases:Apartment Complex Garden Style, 102 units in OH, purchased in 2005Purchase price $26m (of which $2,093,729 is the depreciable basis) Owner’s 2020 depreciation expense without cost seg - $76,135Owner’s 2020 depreciation expense with Owner’s 2020 depreciation expense with cost segregation - $715,650Catch-up depreciation deduction of $715,650 in 2020, even 15 years after purchase.Apartment Complex, 16 Units in GAOriginally 1986, Purchased in 2020Purchase price $7600,000 of which $655,710 (is the depreciable basis)Owner’s 2019 depreciation expense without cost seg - $23,844Owner’s 2019 depreciation expense with cost segregation - $245,575Busy Bees Automotive – Las Vegas, NVPurchased 10/20201, appx 18,000 sfPP $3,500,000 (of which $2,800,000 is total depreciable basis)Owner's 2021 depreciation expense without cost segregation - $35,897Owner's 2021 depreciation expense with cost segregation - $1,086,114(accelerated amount was 38.47%)Large Multifamily Apartment, Boise, IDPurchased 11/2020PP $14,393,083 (of which $12,245,031 is the depreciable basis)Owner’s 2020 depreciation expense without cost seg - $261,692Owner’s 2020 depreciation expense cost with cost segregation - $3,918,400.

Long Beach, Garden Grove and Lakewood seem to work.

In my single family houses the tenants are responsible to mow the lawn (they supply their own lawn mower) and do simple gardening chores/clean-up and rake leaves and shovel snow.

Its two units (plus a semi livable garden in-law) and the main units rent for $1250 each.

Here that $500k might get you an unimproved 1950s bungalow in a moderate area of town (say a 2/2 or 3/2  in Allied Gardens or Clairemont Mesa).

I then asked my gardener and pool person that services the property if they saw him there lately.