However, older instances are to be considered more holistically, suggesting a more lenient approach to past financial or rental difficulties as time passes.Exemptions and Protections:Certain properties, particularly older houses that cannot easily be brought into compliance with current codes, are exempt from some source-of-income rules, acknowledging practical limitations in applying these rules universally.Landlord Liability:The ordinance provides protections for landlords in terms of reliance on third-party information to reject a tenant, mitigating potential legal risks associated with tenant selection processes.Fair Housing and Legal Compliance:All considerations of prospective tenants' applications must align with fair housing laws and other state and federal legislation, reinforcing the ordinance's compliance with broader legal standards for housing discrimination.

Reason for keeping it is to keep skin in the game in case we want to relocate back to our hometown (wife likes the security).

Insurance difficulties are everywhere these days, but it seems there is at least one (expensive) option in most instances.  

Noted about the difficulty of it! 

Being in the field of physical therapy myself, I know that these students come from all over the U.S. and have difficulties finding places to rent in this very low-income and rural town.

Not all of us have paper thin skin.

I acknowledge the difficulties I will face with this venture and who knows how successful I will be.

@Cole Payton, I’m of the mindset to go with conventional mortgages for houses that I plan on holding, until the reserve requirements become too difficult.  I

Good luck "By the way I believe you can succeed in both markets (high cash flow/low appreciation & low cash flow/high appreciation) but best odds are if you are intimate with the market."100% agreed and there are many ways to skin a cat (Sorry to the animal activists) hahaHaving the intimate market knowledge as you mention and an end goal will keep an investor on the path forward.Time is a beautiful teacher and will eventually reveal what strategy was best.Much success

Make use of the right experts and it should have few difficulties.