Second, you would effectively have no skin in the game.

I guess I didn't give it a chance long enough to see what strategy was the most effective.

"Scheme" as a noun refers to a plan or arrangement to attain something or put an idea in effect.

Also would our decision to finance the building + assets together or separately have any effect on this?

If your properties are owned by you or one entity & you get sued from one of your properties they can get to any asset that it owns.If each property has its own LLC and you have a main LLC that owns them the other properties can't be touched in a liability suit.

I personally dont think the value of the property is as effected as other areas and rental should be decent.

My experience with 2 bedroom homes is that people don't stay as long because they grow out of them... higher turnover and potentially higher days on the market because the demand is different.On the flip side... we have a lot of 2 bedroom bungalows in the historic areas here and if you purchase the ones with a lot of attic space, you can create a master suite in a finished loft area.

Do I have to suck it up and pay $1.50 per letter, or is using the home printer trick really that effective? 

It is more cost effective to mortgage and refinance one property worth $150,000 than two properties worth $75,000.

For MF's, only 150 units or larger suits my group.