Perhaps my denied request the prior year also added weight to the intent portion of my request the following year. 

SP punches above its weight as far as political and media visibility.The "downtown" (14th ave) is improving with several recently opened restaurants occupying recently rehabbed original commercial structures, alongside well established mexican places.   

Perhaps weighted polling functionality as a way rank various aspects of the service being received.

6) Is the number I'm offering less than a weighted average of (answer to 5)?

The flooring is 20 years old and is a lighter color than I'd prefer.

Cons: Not there to manage STR's (I give this con a lot of weight) - Winter... i hate winter, plus rental rates go down. - Buying a house from across the country is slightly uncomfortable for me (mostly irrational fear). - Having to front all of the upgrades at time of purchase, including furniture, is expensive (spending a lot of money on stuff that wouldn't be necessary for a long term rental).1.

But obviously the recommendations carried more weight.

I sacked all of mine and now self manage.A reliable & honest contractor is the most valuable member of your team.Security cameras (multi family) are worth their weight in gold.

(Jumped from 1 to 10 since the following is not done in order just a weighting system that was used as filters:US News' Ranking of Univ > 300Univ Population > 10k (with minor exceptions)Cities Population > 40kMost recent Population change of City > 0% (cash flow mainly like I said, but combined with following could lead to incr apprec)City density (peeps / sq mi) > 1,000Rental Vacancy Rate < 6% (must use PM so high turnover is not super ideal) (yes, I know, base was college area... grrr....)Median property value < $210 K (risk mitigation)Median Rent (used with above for rough cash flow ranking)Cash Flow Indicator ( 1 - Rental Vacancy Rate) * Median Rent / Median Propert Value > (Iteratively throw away cities on bottom 50% of list.)Tax / Legal Friendliness of StateThen take the top 7 from above and review the micro investing climate (actual cash flow, Cash on Cash, etc) of turn keys.

I will definitely keep it as a rental after weighting everyone's comments.