I have never been involved on anything of this sort, how doable and cost effective would it be compared to buy/renovate,  any thoughts?

Third, your cashflow is super low, and is comparable to what single family houses can make honestly in cashflow.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

Looking for that comparable type of neighborhood or extended neighborhood....and yes, my early focus was/is the Brown University area to the Yale University area.

These are tiny numbers compared to other metro areas. 

If not look at comparable houses that have sold recently, near by to get a better idea. 

By the way, there's a crazy intriguing graphic out there that compares returns over the last 35 years between the equities market, real estate investments leveraged over 50% and real estate investments leveraged 50% or less. 

Compare monthly costs to rents and decide if there is a positive cash flow.That will get you started.

Self-directed IRA If you are self-employed with no full-time w-2 employees, you can set up a Solo 401k & rollover funds from a non-Roth IRA as a tax-free direct rollover and then invest in real estate.A Solo 401k has several advantages as compared to a Self-Directed IRA including the following which specifically apply to your situation: Unlike a Self-directed IRA, you can have the account for the Solo 401k at a bank or brokerage that does not charge maintenance fees and where you will have checkbook control.Unlike a Self-directed IRA, if you use leverage (which must be non-recourse financing in either case) to acquire real estate with your Solo 401k the income will not be subject to Unrelated Debt Finance Income taxGeneral Considerations Re Investing Retirement Funds in Real Estate:1.

That said, it's stable and expensive compared to many Midwest cities...especially Dayton and Detroit.