I'm a conservative investor and for me this sponsor is an easy "no":1) I generally want to see at least one full real estate cycle experience in the exact strategy (and with little to no money lost). 

There may be a Section 8 property list you can get onto, but my experience in PA with that is it is mostly a list of pits of despair.

Are there any current active investors in that area who can share their experience of that area and what kind of rents they are fetching?

If you are doing section 8, there's a good guy I know of that handles that although I don't have personal experience in this space.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience with Propwire and your results compares to other list pulling sites?

Rental properties in areas with strong school districts typically experience higher demand and can command premium rental rates.

We're able to afford the place as a 2 flat, but still pondering legal options for monetizing the garden unit, if any exist. 

I just feel that it will make finding a good tenant harder because they'll want a 1 year lease from my experience.

It has been me and my team's and experience that location, is important but...people will make due where they can to own vice rent. 

I am not a fan of wholesalers, 98% of them are unethical and straight up lie at least from my experiences.