Define what your bottom dollar is and what reserve cash you need to operate (fund its self). 

Without defining the amount of cash we have, exactly (let's say it is less than $400K, more than $150K), but with defining our current goal as to supplement upcoming retirement income (somewhere in the meager to modest range) what do folks recommend as a good financial strategy to pursue?

@Kyle WarmouthWe still work together and have defined roles. 

I would definately be interested if I can squeeze into university property.

I agree downtown atlanta is definately lagging behind the other areas you mentioned, but I am not able to buy in those neighborhoods right now as much as I would like to, they are a little outside of my price range. 

Per CA Civil code - and you should look this up - (12) Infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents as determined by ahealth officer or, if an agreement does not exist with an agencythat has a health officer, the infestation can be determined by acode enforcement officer, as defined in Section 829.5 of the PenalCode, upon successful completion of a course of study in theappropriate subject matter as determined by the local jurisdiction.Did your tenant have the "vermin" looked at or determined by a code enforcement officer?  

Doing well in this space, which we can define as investing and dispositioning and making gains, has a lot to do with having realistic expectations on price, expenses and costs which translates in to time and return. 

Usually with a balloon, you have another term that defines the interest.

The buyer's attorney can write the form, and can send them to the seller/ seller agent for the seller to obtain.These are letters from each tenant affirming how much security deposit the landlord is holding, how up to date their rent payments are, and sometimes they define which appliances are the property of the tenant vs the landlord.This protects the new owner from claims after closing that the tenants had security deposits that didn't exist, or that they don't owe back rent, etc. 

Glad to see you have some investment goals defined.