Waste of a mortgage given the fees involved. 

That is not the case everywhere, and not the case where I live in DC where almost no agents are involved with rentals.It is pretty common for agents in Boston to receive fees from both the landlords and the tenants.

No need to involve a middleman on a small deal like this (in my opinion).4.

I tend to stay away from trusts, because there is a lot to deal with usually (attorneys, parties involved, etc.)

In my experience, bad layouts are easy enough to rent, but really hard to sell.If you're ok with holding it as an income property that you never sell for anything close to other properties of the same square footage, it's probably ok.

Large square footage and maybe something that has the potential for equity through remodeling or maybe enough space to build another bedroom/bath.

Nope.Also be very sure you want to involve yourself in events before you take a booking for something like a "small" wedding or "cozy" party. 

So any money I put into renovation on top of the purchase price--even if the total still came in well under that 70% mark--would be stuck in the property, which would still limit my purchasing ability to how quickly I could save money.At this point, I'm back at square one.

IF you qualify for the SOLO401K (must have self employed income as the main criteria) in MOST cases they are better; larger contribution limits, easier to leverage with less paperwork involved. 

That's a pretty decent price/square foot for Casa Grande, as long as it doesn't need a whole lot of work.