Fargo has actually grown and seen an increase in demand for housing with a simultaneous decrease in unemployment, which was already ridiculously low, since the oil 'bust'.  

Notice how they see comps in their preferred area of say high $400's, but THEY only pay in the say low $200's?

With interest rates incredibly low (I think the best online savings I've seen is about 1.25%), what opportunities may I be missing?

The rents/HOA dues compared to the listing prices (140k-220k) make it seem like an easy entry point into real estate with relatively low risk since I will live there initially and a large portion of the property is taken care of.

I have slowly built a team of people who can make decent repairs and renovations at an affordable price. I can find anyone but for now will only have my team cut down trees, door installation, and window installation.

Commercial loans tend to be 20-25 year term loans with a 5 year balloon (meaning your rate/payment structure must be redone every 5 years).Looking at the Fannie Mae eligibility matrix, you should be able to go as low as 15% for a single family investment property and as low as 25% for a multifamily.  

Many times a low appraisal is somewhat due to the appraiser's lack of knowledge of the area, but if it takes a very intimate knowledge of your immediate market to justify your price, you're probably going to run into the same problem with the next appraisal.

I started to become too trusting of 1 contractor, and the company jacked up the prices, did really poor quality jobs, took a really long time, such that by the time the houses hit the market and the escalation of costs, I've made no money.

Tim,Kansas City is a great place for cash flowing assets...very stable market and an extremely high demand for quality rentals....Tim.

$20K profit with free contractor labor, your time, risk, etc. seems way too low and way too risky.