Moreover, the damage a D grade property would do to my overall business (sucking up time, energy and resources) would completely offset any "excellent" CoC return...and it DEFINITELY wouldn't be worth it for a 10-11% CoC return.If you're a beginner, read up on all the horror stories on the forums of inexperienced investors chasing "excellent" CoC returns and cashflow in D areas --the story is always the same: they wanted cashflow, they bought in a D area, and within months they have non-paying tenants, a trashed property, an MIA property manager (who understandably will not put in the massive effort required to correctly manage a D property for the minimal money the property produces), and a world of pain.  ...save yourself the headache, and start off house hacking in a B or better area.Good luck out there!

We are not members of the 'Tea Party' so it's difficult to understand their logic,

But you will lose any good GCs and end up with the new, inexperienced, unlicensed guys...it just ain't worth it....

I was broke but not dumb, inexperienced but not dumb.

As a general rule, I tend to give simpler, more conservative advice when working with inexperienced clients.So often times, you may need to: (1) really study up on a particular issue; and (2) communicate with your professionals about what you found to get their thoughts on it.

So I’m betting you had a bad agent when you bought it (if you relied on an agent for comps) and/or you didn’t work with an agent and  being inexperienced at this you didn’t know what to look for in the way of resale inhibitors, or even look hard enough at the comps, it’s on you if you went about it without an agent or chose not to listen to them.. because ultimately it sounds like you over projected your re-sale price from the outset and as a result spent too much money on both the house and the rehab.

As I've watched the idea of "Subject To" morph from being a solid investment technique suitable for experienced, PROPERLY trained and well funded investors, to inexperienced "no credit, no experience, and no money" newbies, I 've just shaken my head.

Yeah, @Jeff Greenberg, I see inexperienced syndicators make that mistake too.It goes along with a question we see here on BP a lot:  "I want to buy a $1 million building but I need to put down $250K. 

Hopewell (and all the tricities, but I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea) is a phenomenal place to have an investment property!     

I know you mention other metrics in other comments, but this comment alone can lead many inexperienced investors down the wrong path with bad investing fundamentals.