I would make the right improvements and charge as much rent as possible.

E.g. You buy a $100k house that has cap rate of 10%, so $10k cash flow.Since you adjust 3% per year for inflation, after 15 years your income is doubled to $20k, yet the asset price is still only $100K, so now you hav...

Actually, I want to make some minor improvements and raise the rents especially the tenets who is only paying $940.

I'm not sure you are considering factors such as, off the top of my head: 1) unlike the have-a-pulse-get-a-loan scenarios of yesterday, they are required to have proper debt-to-income ratios and meet reserve requirements so as long as they don't lose their job for an extended period, they've proven they can afford the payment; 2) even in a down market, they will have to live somewhere, so unless rents are much cheaper, which is unlikely, it makes more sense to not ruin their credit, keep paying and stay where they are, especially if they've improved the property at all; 3) these loans are much more likely to be 30-year-fixed, not the ARMs of yesterday that adjusted up to a surprisingly unreasonable payment (many didn't understand what they signed up for until, Wham, the payment doubled on them, so they had to walk); 4) they pay MIP, upfront and monthly, so there is some protection for the lender if they do default.Many of these people would be stuck paying much higher rents, building others' equity instead of building their own, without FHA loans.  

Keywords to improve reach: wholesale, wholesaling, newbie, SD, southern California, so cal, landlord, turn-key, out-of-state, cash buyers, hard money, private money, private lending, multi-family, direct mail marketing, door knocking, probate, evictions, tenants.  

I'm also making use of Youtube and other blogs and ebooks that have been helpful.

It was a fixer-up and figured I could manage the process remotely....nope. 10k over budget PLUS the rent AFTER the improvements decreased $5.

However, while this would improve the cap rate since I wouldn't have to pay MIP, it would reduce my cash on cash return since I would have much more money tied up in the down payment.

Maybe 1200/mth for a 12-month lease, 1100/mth for a 2-year, or 1250/mth and an improvement budget to upgrade/replacement a few items that are outdated. 

I figure if I make improvements to my community my goal, then improvements to my finances will follow!