students deserve nice places to live. we aren't trying to be slumlords but i do realize that students probably have slightly lower expectations than other types of tenants, so i feel we wont need to break the bank in the level of finishing details like we did on our own home but we will provide housing that is clean and safe and attractive. also thinking we can use some creative materials and methods to make the units party-proof. maybe we get lucky and find some long term professors or grad students and don't have to do annual turnover on every unit. even so, i budgeted 8% for property management after watching david greene's webinar yesterday.the heloc would allow for an easy down payment and a nice buffer for rehab, and i have 750+ credit score and good wage earning history, so i think a conventional loan should not be a problem to obtain. a cash out refi might be an option on the horizon if we decide to really crank a proper rehab but the units (from the pictures i saw) are livable as-is.should i be more specific here on the address/market to get better help?

Whether airbnb is banning certain dates for no reason (no parties on halloween, 2020) or vrbo doesn't have enough bookings to sustain all year so I need airbnb guests, I was wondering if booking.com was a good alternative.

Real Estate isn't always based on those elements, so the communication or attraction will have to be there.Perhaps, a podcast on success in business where you reach out to such individuals thereby learning there story and gaining traction with the avatar type.

It seems like the asking rents on renovated new rentals have gone up a lot, so we are wondering if it is worth doing renovations to try to attract a good tenant pool?

There are other alternatives and, at least, one landlord has done a thorough study of the pros and cons of many of them.

Side by side duplexes tend to be more attractive to renters over the up and down style.

One would think that the market would at some point rebalance to make it more attractive to choose this model as a reward for giving up flexibility and the potential comfort in being able to set up camp permanently. 

As an alternative source, you could look at successor data .com.

At this point you can't offset passive real estate losses with other types of income(ordinary / portfolio).However, she likely is not paying tax on her real estate cash-flow which makes real estate a better alternative to stocks / bonds from an after-tax perspective.

A habitable house, empty with a fresh coat of white paint, has a good chance of attracting a buyer willing to pay more than an investor.