Sure, I risk losing all or part of it in the event of a market downturn, but historically, long-term investors have seen about 10-12% annualized returns in index funds like these. 

One day I went to look at a house for one of them in a not so nice but historical part of town.

If your are going historic I highly recommend the book 'living in the past' it has some great tips on highlighting relevant design elements and how to re-create ones that have gone missing over the years.

looking back historically, the markets have always risen so I would not be worried about how high they are but pay more attention to the basics of buying a good rental property, like cash flow. 

Built in 1890, the home has seen little remodeling and so retains much of its historic charm.

I am trying to build a local network (and conversation) for other investors in the same area, doing the same thing.I'm sure if this describes you, then you, like me, have questions too.I'd like to know if anyone out there in the forums has historical data regarding vacancy rates of homes in Towamensing Trails?

TaxesIs the home on a historical list or any restrictions to rehabHOA?

We do not know the historical rental of the home at this point.

There have been very few government restrictions on development in Central Florida, no geographic restrictions (except for the ocean/bay) and thus land has historically been very cheap, so it has made more financial sense for developers to focus on single family.I just ran a quick MLS search for multi-family, and there are only a couple dozen 6-12 units on the market for all of mid florida (Tampa to Daytona, Ocala to Port Charlotte).Not to discourage you at all, you just may want to take the prevailing property types into account as you're formulating your strategy.Since you're new to BP, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the site:Start here.

Historically rental rates have climbed with minimum wage rates.Extremely unlikely overall real estate will be effected as minimum wage earners don't/rarely buy homes.