I have worked with several renters in the past in Manayunk and as an investor myself, understand the importance of finding quality tenants. 

Better to lose your first couple of deals while you figure out what to look for than acquire a property based on bad assumptions.

When I say that, I do not mean that you should treat them badly, just the opposite, but you should treat them in such a way that they know you will strictly enforce the lease agreement and that you are in control.I don't know what being pregnant has to do with the return of deposit, but....In regard to keeping the deposit, what does your lease say about it?  

The competition is not always bad and can be your friends.  

We put about $2500 and some sweat equity into the property before renting it out (some flooring, new dishwasher, new water heater, painting, etc).income: $1295expenses: $108 vacancy (guess), $283 HOA fee, $161 property tax, $14 insurance, $130 repairs / updates (guess), $480 mortgagecashflow = $119And that doesn't take management into account, which so far we'll try to do ourselves (from NH -- I know that's iffy, but we did find a high quality tenant so we're hoping that not too much will happen).

I understand that the rules would help you determine if the property cash flowed and that the 2% one was used first, while the 50% was used more like a final factor (in the example).What doesn't make sense is why the property was deemed a bad idea, wouldn't the fact that the 50% rule gave 0 cash flow (rather than negative) mean that the investor would still be able to make money on loan pay down?

I would suggest that the simple fact they are on ODSP will not make them a bad tenant.  

We saw some track lights with integrated LED recently but decided against them since, if the bulb goes bad, you have to trash the whole fixture. 

If you think you can still find a quality tenant at 2200 a month and it will not take you more then 1 month to find then advertise it at 2200. if after two weeks you are not getting quality applicants I would lower it.

I'm currently a full time Quality Control Technician, but would like to learn more about the real estate world, it has always been an interest of mine.