So on the podcast they suggest taking a experienced investor to lunch and picking their brain a bit.

renter keeps complaining that repairs are not taking care of. yet won't accept calls from the repair guys and he picks fights with everyone repeatedly so the repairs don't get done. 

Those lock boxes are so simple to break to get the combination.

I am looking to pick from 3 or 4 mid sized markets in order to test the waters. 

Keep it simple.  

Paint job is very simple and many can do without license for cheaper.

I will not post the rates for compliance reasons, but I picked an arbitrary lender and the buy-downs are below.

These situations have made me less confident in my tenant picking abilities...the bulk of our units focus on a niche market of pilots and flight attendants only and so far my recent attempts to diversify that to include a few “traditional” rentals have been one headache after another.

This might go against the grain here.... but I'd get SFH/MF mix and pick out the good ones.

If they won't accede to your view of fairness, you can pick up your marbles and go home.