It may help if we knew what market this is in.General advice is the market is competitive everywhere, so do not skimp out on furniture/upgrades/amenities/photos etc

That's right—we haven't seen rates like this in over a YEAR.And here’s more great news for buyers...the market has more properties available than this time last year, leading to a slight drop in median prices.Now is the time to make moves.

I've been doing some direct marketing here in the Sacramento CA area.

The landlord insurance market in Houston, particularly Harris County, has become more challenging, leading to fewer insurers and higher premiums.

In the current market, that would be tough to do at anything over 75%.

Typically, when rentals have been on the market for that long here in Columbus, it's because they're asking too much for rent. 

I did think about perhaps offering to rent to them for a specified amount of time at below market value (enough to cover the taxes) till they can get things figured out.I want to do everything I can so not to come off as a prick.  

Did you do the market research?

Present the comps that you are using to support your ARV to your lender.

Find an investor-friendly real estate agent in the market you want to invest in because a typical realtor is not as familiar with how to evaluate the potential of a property for investment purposes.