Make it clear to the tenants that you want to return 100% of their deposit and you will happily do so after they return the unit back to you in the same or better condition than they received it.  

I used to attend, and will return when my travel schedule slows down.

Im selling a houses in few weeks that will net me +/-80k, and closing on a house to purchase that will make a decent return.

If you want to hear all the advantages of San Diego RE you can PM me but suffice to say it has historically produced very good returns and this is verifiable fact (anyone can verify this).However, you do not know whether you plan to stay in San Diego. 

I get a ton of return mail and I research each and everyone.

The objective of my prepayment penalty is to establish a minimum dollar amount of return I need on my loan. 

The University area is very good to invest in with decent returns and a safe bet

I would think 8-10 years on a rental for your initial investment return would be pretty good rates.

One of the main reasons I have come across on why people aren't buying cheap properties in my area is that they don't have 14k and the money to rehab the property; they would rather put down 5k or 10k on home in a 100k neighborhood and make poor returns until their 30 year mortgage is up.

Have clearly defined investment criteria that suits your goals (e.g. target cash flow return, value-add opportunities, equity appreciation resulting from value-add, etc.)3.