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Many were barely surviving.  

Ultimately, they did not get along (had not lived together before but were friends before moving in together). 

@Tyler Ettner - If you're ultimately wanting to be living in SB and Tahoe is a way to get free rent, I guess the questions for me become; how much would living in Tahoe slow you from your goal?

I’ve talked to many people who survived the last housing crisis and most didn’t have to drop rent too much if any.

I've been told its okay to leave it and paint over, but I'm wondering if that'll ultimately hurt the appraisal when it comes time to do my refinance.Does anyone have any experience with this?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/82174-ultimate-guide-to-tenant-screening-and-renting-your-houseEdit:  Unless you are referring to more property management on a larger scale. 

The ultimate goal at this point is to acquire the property (hopefully using seller financing), use money from heloc of current property to renovate everything, refinance the property, paying off the seller and heloc (but keep it open to use for other real estate deals), and renting my current residence once we move.

If your ultimate goal is to buy a mall or an office building, don't buy a single family house or an apartment building.

One buyer eventually bought the property and we agreed on terms that were ultimately reneged on by the buyer.