Some of my colleagues tell me how they have to drive into the hood to do their taxes.

I was looking at East Rutherford, etc...I am currently finishing my last semester at Bergen Community College (Yes, since I moved, I drive about 80+ miles there & back from Mine Hill, NJ 4 days out of the week & more to visit Fort Lee). 12/21/2018 is the last day at Bergen & from there I will be working full-time & become a real estate agent around Fort Lee area.

Either way, you are attempting to motivate workers based on behavioral manipulation, which will never drive you to receive the results you desire. 

That cost *should* be factored into every lease because no tenant is going to live there forever.These things are a symptom of not looking at rental properties as a real business. 

If the house has sat on the market for more than a few days I would question what factors are scaring off other investors (bad area, foundation problems, extremely high repair costs, etc).

I have been driving for dollars and have a good list of potential sellers. 

Employment PracticesWhich ones you will need and at what limits will depend on many factors. 

Based on what you stated, I would estimate that a 5 plex would cost you around $600k to build, assuming that its only 4,000ft2 (800ft2 x 5), but it could be bigger once you factor in stairs and other common areas.Guessing on your other costsBuild Cost $600kLand Cost $100kSoft Costs $15kMisc Cost $5kYour looking at something in the range of $770k, which would require $230k in cash/equity to build. 

Generally, these will be lower income neighborhoods which already had problems.BUT, for those neighborhoods which had a strong support base and higher incomes, they could afford to have a volunteer Fire Dept, hire private security to drive the neighborhood, and keep the quality of their education for the kids up via private schools, which are generally expensive.When the down turn happens, richer families which sought to save money and chosed to live in the lower income neighborhoods, find themselves leaving the lower income neighborhoods and moving to the safer, higher income neighborhoods.

Properties in the lower cost areas may look better on paper but once you factor in vacancy, true turn over costs, and cap ex, things don't look as good.I have been in a few nice multi-family properties in oildale but most are pretty rough and have major issues with deferred maintenance.