Prices are low and they hit the bottom during the real estate crash.

Low prices enable more people to buy, limiting demand for rental properties so rents decline (in inflation-adjusted dollars).Population Growth: In areas with growing populations, demand outpaces supply, driving up property prices.

We do not have a resident benefit package, and we keep our tenant fees very low.

A low maintenance condo rentable to good tenants sounds like a good starting point to me.I’m 56 and reasonably setup for retirement, so real estate is a stabilizing diversifier for me.

With that low interest rate, you will have paid down a lot of equity in the deal and should be able to finance with a bank.

"Good" areas will be priced high, "Bad" areas will be priced low. 

Most people I know start with low money down programs so they can get away with a initial capital investment of around $25k but you also need reserves.  

There are other loan products available that are still a low down payment. 

And like many other cities, vacancy rates are still low, lots of demand for housing of all types.  

Even with buying down the rate, I would not expect to get better than low 6's in the best of scenarios.