Even including modest appreciation and equity pay down, the ROI is between 7% and 12% for a non passive holding (not good for an active holding)I can easily afford this level of negative, but do I want to?

If you can afford it I would look north towards Tompkins and Schuyler counties instead.

I'm currently biased towards Indianapolis based on its job growth and affordability, but you could honestly find deals in any of the markets you mentioned (and if your heart is set on the Atlanta metro area, I'd strongly suggest the towns Union City and Fairburn based on their growth, appreciation, and price -- I almost closed on a good BRRRR deal in Fairburn but the rehab was just out of my budget). 

Adding value and sweat equity to the homes we occupied was the only way we could afford the bigger properties we needed.

What exactly would make a city board approve non-affordable (i.e. not Section 8)  apartments?

College used to be a lot more affordable, I studied in Europe (where college is free) and it blows my mind to see kids with 200k student loan debt trying to get ahead on a 50k job.The housing market has started to drift apart geographically.

BP is not an inexpensive place to market yourself with the Ad fee structure so agents and those that dont have large budgets could never afford it.. so the ( as its now called ) reverse trolling is the way these folks are trying to drum up bizz ?

From there, it's normal DTI/Credit/Cash assessment for the new loan to determine whether you can afford the loan. 

If you do not have an accounting program I highly recommend STESSA it's affordable and Bigger Pockets recommends it.

It offers affordable housing, solid rental demand, and generally favorable landlord laws.