The idea is it's somewhat of a safe play for me to learn the intricacies of the transaction while getting paid to do so.

The area was pretty quiet and we were hoping to owner-occupy but wasn't sure if the property is safe in this area.I was just wondering though - how much is the cap rate in Ray Town and is the rent to price ratio reasonable in Raytown, if you don't mind sharing?

A lot of money has been chasing "safe" returns over the past 7-10 years and large real estate syndicators have sold the promise of college rentals effectively to pool significant amount of capital.  

Home offices should be depreciated over 39 years, not 27.5 years.Alternatively you can take the $5/sq ft safe harbor if the home office is less than 300 sq ft (most are), but I've found that the actual expenses method almost always produces a materially higher home office deduction and is generally the way to go if the taxpayer is okay with 1250 gain from depreciation later down the road.

Individually most techniques are difficult and frustrating; however, if you pool a few together AND work them consistently then you will eventually build momentum and have more leads than you can manage yourself.

If by chance the purpose of the mortgage loan was commercial,and not consumer related, for example the borrower owns the property free and clear and is borrowing funds to start a business, then the loan will not fall under the SAFE Act, or the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Youtube search "car sales four square technique." 

This is not a homogeneous market where you can safely play it from afar. 

It's better to be safe than sorry.Hope that helps.Good Luck,Jim

@Dan Maletta Yes, I'm primarily interested in buy and hold for a few reasons: (1) This will be my first real foray into real estate investing and (2) I'm fully expecting to make a ton of mistakes as a rookie investor and I thought low income housing would be a safe place for me to learn as much as I can before I find out what my niche really is.