"Let's put in a lower offer and see what he says.

I flip lower priced homes, as well as buy and hold so I'm curious if there are any strong rental neighborhoods you can recommend with homes with ARV's in the ballpark of 60-80K? 

Have your tried getting 20 year fix that may lower the interest rate?

More Renters than Homehomwers for me = Bad.That means generally lower class of neighborhood, more competition for tenants. 

Plus the other implication of equity stripping is lower cash flow.

Still not a good deal (Cash Flow: -$16/mo, Cash-on-cash return: 0%)What if I lower my down payment? 

It is definetely making my numbers lower (sometimes negative in the first year) than I expected, as I'm mostly looking in Oaklamd County, which has the highest taxes in the state.

Your risk is actually much lower in a 3 or 4 unit than it is in a condo, and the potential to save on expenses goes up exponentially as you buy more. 

Your insurance will also be a lot lower because you're only insuring the space between the walls.The downside is that if the association is bad, then the building could be left to fall apart, and then you'll have a huge assessment for major repairs when they can no longer be ignored. 

If you're cousin will be living in SD, purchasing a home in the Coachella Valley area as a second home (from a mortgage perspective) will enable you to put less down, and get a slightly lower interest rate.