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Since I'm taking such a cash hit, I asked the sellers agent if they would be able to designate some portion of the sale price ($200k?)

I work for a flooring company as a designer and meet contractors and people who flip homes regularly so it has me flirting with the idea of doing it myself.My question is, how did you get your spouse to be on board with real estate investing?

Spend what’s needed to upgrade with reliable mechanical systems, roof that doesn’t leak, remediate all mold; interior design modernized; in other words a place that will attract a higher income no hassle tenant.  

Investing in features like high-end appliances and modern designs yielded a higher ROI.

Realize that you need to design around it.  

Wrong Property Management ApproachIt doesn’t matter how good the people who are doing the property management are, if they are not using a property management approach designed for co-living, everyone loses.  

I'm not factoring this in right now, going based on the numbers I see.Definitely able to put down additional funds to be creative with a lender, at the numbers you are thinking. 

When evaluating markets for rental properties, there are a lot of factors to consider: population growth, employment rates, rent to price ratio/GRM/Cap Rate, rent trends, vacancy rates, etc. 

Investing in features like high-end appliances and modern designs yielded a higher ROI.