It seems like the seasoning time before refinancing would be a pretty strong governor on the velocity of your money.

This makes your offer as strong as possible without putting yourself in a position to lose your earnest money. 

I know the cap rate and cash-on-cash return can be very strong in tougher neighborhoods so while numbers are important, I'm looking to avoid headaches too.

I strongly suggest you focus on solving granular problems at the consumer level and develop your expert chops working tax defaulted and pre-probates.

(some of this was HOA dues, property taxes, so not closing fees per say) Needed *nothing* but $100 worth of L.E.D lights.Property Manager advertised the rental for 2 weeks - we got less applicants then anticipated buy 2 were strong.  

I have gained a strong sense of what it means to be a landlord and how to provide solid customer service to my tenants through self management.

I do not think the ARV is strong enough to be able to get all your money out.

So Money first  deals second  rehab teams when you get a deal which obviously would be your strong suit based on background  then figure out exit  Sell or Keep.. etc.. pretty straight forward I would think.  

, and the other categories are strong.

If you're investing from long distance, then you need to do everything you can to work with people who've been around long enough to build a strong reputation for doing solid work.I'll leave it at that.