resulted in renters.

Some of the best properties I've ever bought match the description of the place you mentioned.

I get my comps as an overall average between advice from my realtor and results from Trulia, Rentometer, Zillow and Craigslist and Realtor.com. 

While many new or less knowledgeable investors see syndication as a holy grail, the truth is that it may or may not fit your plan, it may or may not be achievable for you depending on your knowledge, skills, track record, experience, and ALWAYS carries a risk of having to defend lawsuits when investors are unhappy with results.  

We have been self managing, with OK results, as I am located out of state and my team is small family run.   

I get that refinancing would provide cash for your next property, but won't refinancing the property after 6-12 months result in a higher mortgage for the initial property etc...? 

Your real life returns will more closely match your on paper returns in better areas.

Success rates for collections is probably under 30% so your results are pretty normal.

@Alexander Krasne I tried to contract a cleaning service to do my cleanings and had horrible results.

Can we slow down the depreciation in the first 5 yrs to match closer to the cash flow deliver to optimize annual taxes on the this deal while reducing the recapture that will occur if sold within 5yrs?