The reason for this actually goes into some of the other common factors.At the moment I own my primary residence and 4 rental properties with 10 total units, putting me dead center in mom and pop territory.They Are Self FundedMom and pop investors in general fund their real estate acquisitions using their own money.

There are a few items that will come into play. 

Could be as small as a dead battery in a smoke detector in the middle of the night (no guest wants to hear beeping while they are trying to sleep), guests can get rowdy and disturb neighbors, I have even had guests that insisted upon having someone meet them face to face when they arrive.

That is how much you are presently losing monthly having dead equity dying a slow death in your property.

I’m not a huge fan of turnkey in Cleveland (think they’re overpriced by a lot, like 30-40k), but if you’re dead set on turnkey I’d check out smartland

Or should I play it safe and wait until my current job can pay for the mortgage even if the property is not being rented out.

That's where finding that sought after "deal" comes into play.

The other one they are both estranged from (not sure how that plays into it).  

However, playing along I'll say the building with less units is either going to be in a better neighborhood or the units are much larger.

I would then love to play as big of a role as possible in pushing the acquisition to closure, then repeating the process.