If I'm going to gamble, I go to Vegas.Zach Schwarzmiller on gross income of $76,896 on your 12 unit building, you're projection NOI of $51,983 or 67%.

Anything else you are gambling/hoping it will turn out OK and not be an issue.

We have spent a few months reading books, watching YouTube videos, spending time on the BP forum, etc. trying to gain as much knowledge as we can before jumping into this new adventure.

If your goal is simply to "gamble" on appreciation ... then hold it and deal with headaches of remote ownership/management. 

Keep us posted on your adventure.

You will have to adapt and change, but if you look at the new real estate challenge as an adventure, I bet you might do better than you ever thought possible!

That being said, I won't gamble that property values will improve significantly within the next 5 years as the true improvements are taking place approximately 5-8 blocks southeast.I am going to check with the seller re: a second mortgage to see if thats an option.Seller purchased in 2014 for $100K in 2014 and prior to that, the property was sold in 2009 for $82K.  

You didn't really say what you are trying to accomplish (ie long term buy and hold, instant cash flow, gambling on appreciation) with your real estate investing.

I can live with that but it is a gamble. 

In some neighborhoods parking can be an issue - so off street parking is a big plus.Whatever you decide this is definately a time to be adventurous - we haven't seen these RE prices in a long time in Florida.