If I sense the buyer is cut from this fabric, I will negotiate extra hard against repairs to the extent they simply walk.

Ultimately, I wound up doing a 92-unit deal my first time around and realized that part of the reason I was struggling to win deals was simply because I lacked the credibility to be do so. 

Based on your post, it's probably best for you to simply not invest in Cook County for your own peace of mind.Sure, any tenant could stop paying rent and that risk is never zero.

Especially now, I am seeing a lot of people who bought during or right after the COVID pandemic and are in situations where they simply cannot sell their homes for any profit (many of them bought as new construction).

@Joshua Lanzieri when renovating older properties there are almost always negative surprises.Go watch any HGTV renovation show and most of them will have this as a cliff-hanger, forcing the choice of either going over budget or cutting back elsewhere.10% overruns happen often, but 50% is NOT acceptable!

If you are simply buying for a lifestyle investment, then you have much more leeway in what/where you might consider buying.

Simply safety screening criteria.

Generally there are multiple units for each "zone" if you will when I've seen them installed.Regarding your problem at hand, I personally would simply adjust your plan to move and make your initial plan to get the current issues resolved, while costly now, in the long run holding onto the unit will likely pay off. 

My belief for SFR is that prices simply don't move much and grow slower than inflation.

There is always SOME manual work, but you can cut out a lot of the back and forth-- definitley.