We discovered a bolted down locked safe in one of the closets.

Of course, that means it's less safe for the buyer unless you get the deed in escrow (if you pay off the CFD and the sellers have since moved, divorced, died, etc., getting your deed may be a real problem so it is critical to have it placed in escrow generally with an attorney who has bulletproof escrow instructions).  

I could technically make both payments if need be but it would be a big stretch.Would this type of risk normally be considered a 'safe risk' when rental income is guaranteed or is this something to stay away from?

A safe B/A property would be best for a noobie over a C/D w coc of 10%.  

Some of those are:- Cannot charge more than $20 on a Rental Application- Cannot use Prior Evictions as a criteria for qualifications of a potential tenant- Judges can extend an eviction up to 1 year- Cannot do No Cause Evictions- etc.What is worse is that there is a push by the radical Left to make these kinds of laws National.Until the uncertainity period is over and we start to have a very certain set of laws soon, be it pro-tenant or pro-landlord, then I will NOT continue my acquisitions of new properties for my portfolio.One outcome in the future could be that ALL Properties (including Small Residential properties like mine) will wind up becoming Rent Regulated as a safe bet.If that's the case, then the value of every type of properties, including mine, will fall in value as the future rent appreciation is no longer controlled by the free Market.If the future laws do not regulate small properties like mine, then the Value will appreciate tremendously.

Just buy a rental or two a year and you’ll be safe.

Could a landlord potentially have a small amount of say peeling paint in a safe spot to intentionally fail and get around the mandate.  

Two back of the envelope calculations using a basic savings calculator, both comparing keeping the house to investing 50 K and $776/month in a "safe" 60 bond/40 stock split.  1) House appreciates at 3.7%, bond/stock appreciates at 7.8%. 

@Cynthia JohnsonHome Warranty Companies are generally an easy and safe alternative.

With the INS. on my main home in New York I have coverage on my rental house in New Jersey for about $100 extra and it covers four or five different occurrences. other then that I have no insurance on my jersey property I own it outright so it's not required it survived Sandy so I have no flood insurance and I'm not worried about theft cuz it has no value of anything inside plus it's a very safe neighborhood and with the normal 2 the $5,000 deductible who cares if they steal something don't have the policy in front of me but you should be talking to a couple of different agents about that