@Mike H.is correct, the leverage can boost your returns SIGNIFICANTLY.

The two are separate issues, unless you have some type of special circumstances in Canada that would tie the two.I whole-heartedly agree that this is a business and has to be run like a business. 

Would a little cash injection boost it?

I remember the best years ago when my father was teaching me all about rental real estate in Australia.It was not unusual to had several European generations living in a home & they often collected a substantial amount of urine to boost the soils deficient in N, K & P under the fruit trees we had on the properties.

A few years go by and then the Internet gets a large boost in growth due to people who are looking for anonymous chat rooms, pornography, or other types of behaviors in which people want to remain anonymous.

Run the numbers... men lie, women lie, numbers don’t... if the numbers say it’s a good investment do it don’t listen to your heart in situations like this

But so is a years worth of rent up front (think about the boost to your balance sheet).

I don;t have the heart to kill him, and I assume there probably aren't any groundhog shelters where I can drop him off.... 

But none seem to really have the heart for the repair callsA couple of the ones I used aren't even doing rehab any more.

So, by purchasing the first property you mentioned as all cash, you are giving yourself a boost in income.