Closing costs + rent ready costs + lease out costs - those you need to be compensated for and new investors are always surprised that they can add up to 5 or 10 or 15K.  

Are these areas good for rental property investments, or am I barking up the wrong tree? 

.- If you hold a rental until death, you can pass it on with a stepped-up cost basis, limiting captial gains if then sold (limited by inheritance tax limitations).Too many newbies on this site trying to replace their day job income via "passive" real estate investing w/o digging deep enough to understand how it really works.

They simply dont understand the culture of the rental class in the mid west the LIfe long renter..  

I want guests to do their laundry throughout the stay and keep up with the dishes and trash :-).I also fill my K-cup dispensers between guests.

You might want to partner up with a friend or family member to mitigate the costs.

If you consistently analyze properties, recognizing a good deal will be much easier when it shows up.

Sounds he’s not interested in going through the rent up stage and being an operator.

They will go up to 100% loan to value or LTV (or used to). 

If it's a DSCR loan, you could get up to 80% LTV if the property qualifies.