Old sweet lil granny opens the door and says in granny voice: "hi there young man  what can I do for you?"

Sweet Relief!

But if I can sweet talk the owner, he'll rent to me when no one else will."

But then I would temp them with some sweet goodies, like one months free rent, plus a free TV with DVD player (that I purchased for under $100) to anyone who qualifies  and I rent it to.  

I don't want to walk away from this sweet deal but I also don't want to have to cough $5000 just for water.

Yet each within their sweet spot can be of immense value to you.For instance the 1031.  

You can go there to set things up yourself, which will really help you ensure you haven't forgotten anything small that a guest is going to complain about (can opener, wine bottle opener, etc.). 

There's the sweet spot noone talks about. 

I think getting some roommates together would be a sweet gig but I'm more leaning towards an investment only property.

I think investing in like B neighborhoods with B/C class buildings is the sweet spot of MF investing.