I don't have a great job, but its not bad.

Knowing I didn't want to rent it out for at least 2 years, I didn't put my name on the renting list which I now know was a bad move.

That is not luck, that is not random, that is suicide.So conclusion,  the people you are trying to skip trace (and pay money for to skip trace) are not just "a bad " audience.They are the worst possible audience.

There is no given answer here, because the whole property needs to be relatively consistent.Kitchens and baths are the common answer, but if they are passable and you choose to invest in them anyways at the expense of peeling paint (or off putting exterior color) and overgrown landscaping, the appraiser and tenant will be walking up with a bad taste in their mouth, thereby not valuing the interior work you have done.But think about the general flow of someone looking to rent: more bedrooms will typically dictate more rent.  

If things are tight right now, maybe consider a side hustle or extra job until rent adjustments give you more breathing room.

And most people don't understand that S8 rents can change, usually on an annual basis as tenants are reassessed.How bad can it change?

The older homes there aren't as bad (2k to 3k). 

That's not a bad idea - just strike a business contract.

Active real estate investors who can't get comfortable not being in the driver's seat, people who just don't like real estate as an investment, those who can't get comfortable with the risks, those who just don't understand syndicate investments, those who have heard bad things about this type of investing from others, and people who have invested in syndicates and experienced bad results.

I ended up having about 10 abandoned vehicles / RV's (some looked like meth labs...think Breaking Bad).What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?