If you're only 1.5 hours away and need the condo for personal use, it would probably work out nicely for you to self-manage.

The workouts are brutal, but very rewarding.

That would be his issue with his lender.You would have the option of forcing him to complete the deal, he then has to work out the problems between himself and his lender, that is none of your problem or business.Have your attorney or the real estate agent's broker send a strongly worded letter as a warning about the consequences ( a lawsuit he is unlikely to win).

My wife and I did a lot of research, attended live sessions, and I connected with some current and former students and got positive feedback.

How did it work out for you? 

This would be both a risk mitigation strategy as well as a bite size learning opportunity as I intent to manage close to all aspects of these for at least the short term (want to be an expert in the day-to-day operations before hiring this work out). 

Of course, after you tell them that, you do keep trying to help them, and work out a deal that everyone is happy with in the end.

Specific for the Atlanta Housing Authority, you have to attend the landlord/property manager training session to even accept a section 8 tenant.

How would the tax computation work out on a 30 year note?

I have had a couple of opportunities to market similar properties time on the market, desirability etc and having a sharp property with decent ceiling fans helps.I think it depends some on the property and the target audience as I have investors with lower priced multi-units with no fans on purpose that work out very well.