Any help in deciphering the method to this madness would be much appreciated! 

I have been using the brrrr method for years and have been recycling the same funds for the past 10+ years.   

Which methods have you used to obtain properties?

What is your method to calculate repair costs and ARV from a listing on the MLS? 

Bad faith from the start, poisoning the business relationship.The second point is that getting that security deposit is usually done in times of need by a cash advance on a credit card, a private loan from a friend, a high-stress method to begin with.

@Mike S.That’s an interesting concept and creative problem solving.

It does seem to me like the Deep South is a difficult environment but I'm sure there's a method.

What are reasonable cap rates I should plug in for a fast estimation on their values using Michael Blank's 10-min method?

Assessor valuation, appraisal are some of the common methods.

You could analyze the property a few ways but that will only give you a ball park ESTIMATE.1st: You can just run your analysis and add the owner occupied space as additional vacancy.This is a good method because you are "not" collecting income so you are being very conservative in your expense estimate. 2nd: You can run the analysis and calculate the property as if it is rented and you will be receiving rental income.