Not many fears as a parent compare to having a sex offender living near your home. 

Cash flow has a much higher degree of control compared to the SFH market. 

Only other thing I was thinking is I would probably cut my roommates some slack on rent compared to having 2-3 tenants in a home where I do not live, farther away from downtown allowing me to align my pricing more with the market.  

For your second question, it depends on where you're comparing the condos to homes.

Over all real estate market was good and especially Houston market experienced good gain in home sales compared to last year after Harvey 2017. 

Find houses that have already sold and compare them to what your place is going to look like when it's done.

Look into Homestead funding and see use them as a baseline to compare with everyone else so you ensure you get the best rates.

A couple of extra points interest on $50k for a few months is peanuts compared to the alternative. 

@Dorian Guin how to the unit costs compare to SFH in the same area (i.e. cost per unit vs. what a SFH costs)  do you have an idea on why the other units have been vacant?

But I don't think comparing renovations to a primary residence and the sort of work you're going to have to do on a defunct 2-4 MF in a slum are two different beasts.