I will not have to avoid many areas but a few based on crime.

It all depends upon the total cost of construction, based on that your monthly fixed cost/mortgage will come into picture.You cannot rent too far from market rate, essentially you should have some spread between mortgage(construction cost) and rent to cover for cashflow, vacancy etc.I would suggest you to keep the selling it out as your second exit strategy if renting is your first one. in that case your construction cost + selling cost cannot be more than market price of new construction.You can also try to reach out to developers to give them a piece of the pie but then you will have to sell for sure.

I knew guys at Ft Benning who tried to run ads in the base newspaper.

I already have income and expense tracking templates but everything is based on either purchase prices for comparison reasons or record keeping.

Do the math to find out what their usage was and bill them based on that.

Consulting with a local real estate advisor or financial planner can provide personalized insights based on your specific situation. 

Here are the numbers (rounded up):- Original purchase price ~ $180K- Current value ~$230K- Remaining balance ~ $140K- Mortgage payment + HOA ~ $1,300- Current rent = $1,700To calculate ROI at the current time should I base it on the initial investment amount (downpayment) or the current equity position?

Even in an area like Lynn (North Shore) the margin between gross monthly income and all expenses based on an $800k property would net us approx $-2500/mo.

This will vary based on the owners specific situation and tax regulations in your area.

Unfortunately based on the info, you did not uphold your terms of the agreement and the lender has every right to pursue this.