If you want to stand out, have an edge, and be the person who eventually buys the property, figure out who the buyer is, and create a personal appeal to the buyer that emphasizes the buyer's wants and needs.Learn why the buyer bought the property to begin with, what holding it is accomplishing, and if another property might better suit the buyer's needs.

I recently did a complete remodel on the entire property and because of that my insurance just was cut in half by State Farm!

@Maksu Ize Thanks for a straightforward and clear-cut answer.

Having the cash flow just feels like a safety net, especially if I am going to venture into deeper waters like development.

in particular regulations that in effect result in not being able to get bad tenants out of your unit for lease violations (except as related to health and safety), non-payment, etc. 

Keith MillerMissoula, MontanaHi Keith, OK--Vision a great topic.You might want to look into how to do a Vision Board.Some sites recommend cutting out magazine pics and pasting them to cardboard (welcome to 1950).A better way to do it is to use Excel and just grab pics from google and insert text boxes below them.Good Luck!

They're also critical if you're managing in C or D class properties where self-management may be a risk to your life and safety or severely restricting time you would otherwise be using for expanding your portfolio because you have money to burn and a portfolio size you're chasing. 

If it's a normal lot, 2 cuts a month should not be 200$.

To really cut to the chase, "good debt" is debt that makes you money, and "bad debt" is debt that doesn't (when you buy material things that just sit there).  

@Andy Edge and @David Espinosa are active in that area.