Not that I don’t enjoy dealing with tenants, maintenance, lawn care, Home Depot and Lowe’s trips and tenant change overs (I recently put new carpets, kitchen floor, appliances, vanity and mirror in the bathroom and fresh paint in my upstairs unit).

We also live in a reasonably low cost of living area compared to the rest of the nation where the home prices we are looking at for rentals are between $200K and $250K. 

If you are going to be an owner-occupant, want a low down payment, and are planning to do a renovation, the FHA 203k and Fannie May Homestyle loans are your best optionsHow do you know the property is currently upside down on the mortgage? 

It's too bad you don't have a pic on your profile because this is all I can picture as you rant: 

Hard to give up such a low mortgage rate, but in the end that's small potatoes compared to potential OOS problems.  

And like many other cities, vacancy rates are still low, lots of demand for housing of all types.  

Cost per lead (CPL) is crucial—it shows how much you're paying to get a potential seller or buyer’s info, and you want this as low as possible without sacrificing quality.

Make sure you buy it low enough to make it worth the trouble.

Everybody thinks they can paint because they can - you get a brush or a roller, a can of paint at Lowe's and away you go.

With that low interest rate, you will have paid down a lot of equity in the deal and should be able to finance with a bank.