But I’m afraid I’ll play the safe bets and there are only two options. 1) Purchase to short term rent in an accepting community.

This property is in a nice neighborhood, but this particular deal may be more of an appreciation play. 

I recently went through this with a duplex I sold for an acquaintance...we finally ended up changing the locks and keeping a key to each unit...we'd give 24-hour notice for showings and inspection and try to complete when they were at work...all according to the lease terms of course.This is a tough issue in general...keep us posted how this plays out.

We called tonight and left a message been playing phone tag.Thanks again

We do not play by the same rule book as the ultra wealthy, alas. 

This does not include my work breakdown but should be fairly self-evident. 1. obtain a formal application to collect information2.

The allure of being able to cap major expenses for an AC or Heat pump at 450$ a year plus 100$ per incident charge seems like a good way to keep your costs fairly predictable.I suppose, if you pay this thing for 10 years, and have some minor things like a dishwasher/ AC issues/ Heat pump issues and they fix it, could be a wash more or less.   

I played professional baseball for 4 years but am heading back to UVA this fall to finish my degree.

How do others do this to be both fair for the other investors and yet make it worthwhile?

There are also other options such as seller financing that you can dive into fairly easy and start cash flowing.