That is one of the main reasons that I’m so skeptical. 

Staging your house well can help you attract more attention from buyers, which ultimately helps it sell faster and maybe for a higher price than an unstaged home (see visual):What Are My Staging Options?

Therefore, your long-term income depends on the city's ability to attract new companies.

For context its mainly retirement communities around 2 hours either way from Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Offer to be the guy that restores the old family property to it's former glory and all....Still it'll be hard to not look greedy because you do want to make money after all.....main thing to me is being super PATIENT.

BP meetups for instance is mainly an excuse to have a beer and maybe happy hour type conversations.. i hosted one and went to one..

So, if your current rent roll is still on the lower side, it could limit the amount you can borrow right now.However, if you have even a partial track record showing improvements.. say a few of the units are already updated and attracting higher rents.. a lender might take that into consideration when underwriting.

The property is located in a mid-size city with several attractions nearby.I understand that management fees can vary by location, but this property management company charges 20%.

If cash flow is the main goal, there are many other markets to consider before San Diego.

Efforts here WILL have impact at main-street level.