I could see this being a bit overwhelming as a beginner with a bunch of units to manage on the top of trying to learn.

We will continue to observe the performance of this property and eventually will build a second house next to it.

Its simple arithrimetic but often there is an angle and no prop is the same.  6)  good beginner rule I use for myself is that for a buy and hold multi - if it needs more than 10k of work its probably not a great FIRST investment.  

Number makes sense on paper but let's see how we perform at the beginning of next year. 

We've got a few homes near campus we use as student rentals and they certainly perform well.

Based on the user research we've seen most use cash flow as a proxy for performance.

There are absolutely areas where you can beat a 10% cap rate - I see it all the time - you just need to know where to look and what types of properties perform best.Some areas I would check out include Bailey, Arvada, Westminster, unincorporated Adams County, and many more I could point you to beyond that.

The whole scheme was buy a foreclosure, "sell" it back to someone that can't qualify for traditional financing with seller financing at a higher rate, once note is "performing" you can sell the note and make a lot of money. 

If you can build confidence that regardless of how the STR performs, you will pay the rent every month and take all the risk. 

If the guidelines are clear before they sign the dotted line, there is a mutual respect, and a good vetting process is performed I think I can minimize tragedy.