The biggest risk around it in Seattle right now is the city council and their push for more rental regulations,  with several influential council member's stated ultimate goal being rent control.    

They need to carry basic hazard insurance while the builder carries the liability.  

Hi @Victoria KingIf you "lease to own" the property to them without a strong enough down payment (has to be above and beyond what it would be for 1st, last and security deposit), you risk having a nightmare tenant that is going to trash the place. 

This is an expensive area and the carrying cost is high.

The lender bakes in the risk of so many loans defaulting and they lose all money lent or partial of it.If buyer is looking for slightly higher interest than first position then they do not know the debt markets and that is dreaming.

I know these things can happen, and I should be prepared for things to go wrong on occasion, but I am not willing to let the horror stories keep me from buying my first property, especially if I have systems in place to hopefully minimize the risk of putting these types of tenants in my properties. 

My issue currently is more consistent income as I'm on commission percentages as an assistant and carrying a mortgage while I theoretically would wait for renters would drain my resources after rent/food/bills.

Like you said, that way I also wouldn't risk something happening in life that would suck up money and prevent me from finishing the repairs. 

Probably not, considering that 10 years ago it was the worse economic crisis in at least 70 years since the Great Depression.BUT, if those who did not understand that it was a FANTASTIC time to invest once the crisis was over, even if the same thing occurs, their risk intolerance will probably steer them to the investments that won't appreciate the most, and that is unfortunate.This is really about education in the long run.People have to add to their inventory of skill sets for an investor the ability to calculate and understand appreciation and other future values.It's the only way to get used to the psychology that things change in the future and where you buy can either capture that change if it's good, or avoid it if it is not.I just can't believe people make a decision on an Investment based on one single calculation for today, usually the Cash on Cash Return, and then completely ignore all future economics.That's like the squirrel that doesn't bother saving his nuts for the winter because he has a lot around in the fall when they dropped off the trees.Good thing squirrels can think about the future value of saving his nuts!

Plus, in a C-class area you're going to have a higher-risk tenant pool than if you go with B/B+.