You cannot control anything else so control those things.EFFORT: do the right things and work harder (or have your team work harder) to create the proper place for this investment level...make it as good as you can within the market and trust that by putting in that effort it will be rewardedATTITUDE:  Stay positive, people rent and need to live somewhere, that will always be the case, you will find good tenants and bad ones, that will always be the case and the investment (as long as you buy right) will always be a win..some big wins and some small wins but you have to buy really bad to loseFOCUS: it appears you are starting off focusing on the wrong things...What If PROBLEMS...instead FOCUS on What If WINS:  Instead of "what if no tenant every pays me" switch to "what if I am approached by a buyer who wants to buy it within 3 months of me buying it for $100k more and now I have to deal with capital gains or a 1031 exchange"And finally, I have rented through Section 8 and also not through Section 8...benefit is that you get paid direct from the government EVERY month....downside is the tenant pool is NO DIFFERENT than what you find on your own and can be even worse PLUS you have the added requirements meeting the section 8 standards and inspections...and finally sometimes it is a worse tenant: some feel entitled because they government (and you) owe them...I have had good and bad section 8 tenants, you can also mix your tenants...rent 5 units to section 8 and 5 on your own and see what works out best

When I tell him about the downside to each property he immediately agrees with my assessment and that raises the hair on the back of my neck.I had a real estate agent who worked for Century 21.

I think the actual NOI and downside risk factors are far more vital to underwriting than anyone's gut feelings about overpaying or underpaying. 

@Nasir Smith- thanks ...the VA loan is the best  propgram that allows   zeero down ...its  also  noce that it  doesnt  requires any monthly mortgage insurance ...a  downside to the VA loan is the VA funding fee  which  can be rolled into the loan  or  avoided if  vet is diabled   2) YOU CAN  REQUEST A LARGE  CREDIT  FROM SELLER ( or agents) THAt can be used to " buy down " the rate  and make the payment more afforable 3) rent out part of the house is an option too 

.), however when that [property is mixed in with others within the tape, the average value, income, etc. makes sense.The downside to a loan tape of 2+ properties: If you choose to sell or payoff one of the properties within the tape, the lender might require what is referred to as a "turbo paydown".

Another downside - I lose my leverage to borrow against the equity in those homes after sold/wrapped.

@John Richter- thanks - another down side to PM is1)  the loan to values allowed tend to be lower than what a traditional lender may offer   2) many PM  lenders are not willing to  do  cash out refinances and  onlyl interested in  straight refinances and also purchase loans 3) many PM loans  are not  30 yr fixed loans 

Here's the downside though.

I think as long as you can be flexible with a LTR that still cash flows as opposed to counting on STR, the upside should be pretty attractive and downside risk fairly minimal. 

Is there any significant down side with having a loan modification of extending the loan to a 40 year @ 4.25% vs 30 year with same interest rate?