Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

Such a situation is recoverable if there is enough time for a market recovery and the cash flow is at least break-even (or there is enough reserve cash to cover negative cash flow until it can turn positive). 

I spent a decade in advertising, before founding and running a custom wood shop for another decade, so 'm pretty good at the self-promotion.I agree with you that the more gorilla approach would be most effective and that's actually what i've been doing – calling RE agents in my service area with active listings, introducing myself to property managers and leasing agents...To answer your question, I will have to handle the work myself for 6-12 months to build out the SOPs and field service management systems, but I have a lot of relationships for those looking to "do the work".I'll check out the meet up and would love to grab a cup of coffee, I'll shoot you an email.

Also, the monthly cash flow always negative, why is that?

A quick fix now can save you from potential negative feedback later on.I'd be happy to discuss more ideas!

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

I also found that being at "market" rents it takes longer to rent therefore missing out on a month or two of income negating the ROI on improvements.

They can offer tailored strategies to help manage your rentals and carpentry business effectively.

A colleague of mine has bought two properties owner-occupied back to back in Arlington (with a 5% rate and a 7% rate) doing basement conversions and renting rooms, lowering his effective monthly payment on each property to sub 2K each time.

you're going to be INvesting for the first few years... rental income from the property isn't going to start paying back what you spend in closing costs, rent ready costs, stabilization costs, down payment, etc. for several years at a minimum.hope this helps - not trying to be negative, just realistic.