That's actually what I do: the majority of my real estate portfolio is in direct real estate that I own, then the second highest allocation is in syndications/crowdfunding debt.

It applies to any property that is leased and for sale.You need it to verify any security deposit, rent, utility arrangement etc, from tenant.The escrow will also need that info to allocate funds.

That city might be worth a small allocation of funds but it's very risky investing in any single asset, or location.  

Allocate the time you would have used on manual labor to vet out various tradesmen and find new deals.

Waiting to the cap expense is needed rather than allocating each month will make for some big surprises.Good luck

If everything was reported properly on your (or wife's) tax return the original home was allocated between personal and rental.   

If you've lived there for at least 2 out of the last 5 years, you can exclude $250k ($500k if you're married) of gains from your taxable income.If it was ever a rental property, there may be some allocations/limitations but, if not, you'd get the full exclusion.The difficulty in getting loans depends on a number of factors like the lenders you're speaking to, credit score, DTI ratio, etc.

You can freely allocate costs to either party.

For a small purchase under 200k in columbus we normally allocate $1800 for purchase and $2800 on the resale in closing costs. 

Overall I think an investor should allocation a portion of their investment dollars in Baltimore City as part of a well balanced portfolio, I think it has good long term growth potential.