I am a single-family investor,Not by choice but that was the path of least resistance when I first started.  

For funds that are already in your retirement account (e.g. a former employer 401k plan), rather than weighing the pros and cons of investing retirement vs non-retirement funds in real estate the more salient comparison point may be whether you are better of investing retirement funds in real estate and other alternative investments vs. traditional investments (mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.).3.

Traditional How did you add value to the deal?

@Jordan Moorhead Is the perfect choice

Anyways, tons of good suggestions (especially from @Andrew Postell as usual) above and I hope you make the choice that makes the most sense to you.

Our credit scores are a little low for traditional or even fha financing...plus the financed amount would exceed fha limits anyway.I can get a hard money loan, repair credit while we fix up the house then refinance in a few months.

If not, I'll go the traditional lender route with 20% down but no realtor, just a real estate lawyer I've used to buy land before.Any help/thoughts/etc. would be very welcomed.

If they clog the sink and it does 10K in damage, you have two choices:1) File a claim with the renters policy.

However In some cases the borrowers take total advantage of the fact that they can treat this like a traditional mortgage where they can skip payments for months and months with no repercussions. 

The rent numbers are probably true, filled with people who cannot pass other landlord criterias and have no choice where they rent, but the house is probably borderline condemnable.