Unfortunately I did not think about this before hand, but it has been brought to my attention that asbestos could be a concern since the building was build in 1968. 

I called the sect. 8 office to confirm this and they said that she never handed in the paperwork necessary for this to readjust back to the full rent reimbursement. 

If you can get your hands on a small multi, holding the property until the neighborhood is ready for condo conversion can be extremely profitable.

I would stick the estimated numbers from the city so things don't get out of hand.

I'm not sure I'm well qualified to give advice with only a handful of deals in my history. 

You live usually for free (or should), only a hand full of tenants, can be very low money down with FHA. 

I've dealt with Section 8 for years, and finally this year I threw my hands up and completely refuse to take it.

They are not cash equivalents.Serious real estate investors should always keep enough cash or cash equivalents on hand to jump on great deals. 

And once you actually get the property, it will also depends on how well you list it.Average is a good overall indicator for the whole market but i would not use that when doing my numbers.I have single family homes in the $1400/mo and i don't see them vacant at all and when old tenants moves out, we already have new tenants ready.On the other hand, properties over 2k/mo takes 1-2 months to rent out.To be on the safe side, i would do what banks typically do, and that is 20% vacancy rate..

Step out and forget about collecting - its usually fruitless.On the other hand - I did succeed in collecting from one tenant once.