There is a difference in the market between an efficiency and a 2400 sq ft ranch style home.Another note, never have a tenant in a residential lease be responsible for maintenance or repairs (not including damages they cause), it is going to be a violation of federal tax law as to depreciation allocations and you can end up filing false returns as an owner.

Just allocate at least 10% of the rent towards any repairs throughout the year.

You determine the number of "tenant days" for each unit, and the total "tenant days" for the entire bill, and allocate accordingly.   

With that being said, how much of the $70k will you allocate for real estate? 

We allocate percentage as fair as we can.  

So, let's be clear about how poor someone is before they are the bad kind of poor.I think the first thing that needs to be addressed is the pervasive attitude that poor people have somehow created their own poverty and are simple-minded people that need to have their finances governed by someone else.Just look at the shows showing celebrities trying to buy food for the amount of money allocated to food stamp recipients to see how impossible it is for them to eat on that amount of money for food. 

Maybe instead of dumping more money into the marketing, you just need to allocate the current spend to a different target that yields higher commissions.  

I spoke with my real estate lawyer and he said to look out for complaints from tenants about noise and the inconvenience of having contractors coming and going.The tenants have a toddler and an 8-month old.The only pros I think would be to lock them in for at least a year and the finished basement would increase my house value.Cons would be that the money they give would be allocated to the finishing of the basement and I would need to set aside money to pay down my monthly operating expenses.Any feedback would be appreciated.

Capital also has a funny way of allocating itself to opportunities, wherever they may be. 

So his cash flow when allocating for all expenses is negative.