Given you have Section 8 tenants, I'm assuming it is a C or D class neighborhood. 

I think if you are were to bet on all five happening again, you may as well go to the blackjack table. 

I'm fairly new to LI myself, so I'm really only familiar with Nassau at the moment.With regards to C or D neighborhoods, that references the overall quality of an area.  

You would do this as 506b or c or Regulation A  

I suppose it all depends on a bet on which market you believe will outpace the other.  2,000 @8% for 25 years is $13,6971,000 @5% for 25 years is $3,386I just think that if you are going into either with conviction you have to trust that your due diligence is going to prove itself out over 25 years.  

Anything beyond that is to attract a better tenant at a higher rent.I think starting out in C or D properties is a great way enter the business.

Class C or worse neighborhoods its harder to weed out bad applicants and train tenants. 

Along the same vein, if you have a decision to make (like taking off or buying a rental) before you pull the trigger you think through all the things that could go wrong and remove those outcomes, then you at a minimum won't fail ( either crash an A/C or sink a bunch of cash into an overpriced d-class turnkey). 

A scammer smells the fish, so that would be my bet on why its escalating in this arena.

I believe they are afraid to bet on themselves and their knowledge to the extent that is often required to invest in RE.