Clearly there are many ways to play the game and win. 

It is fairly likely that a contract cell phone by itself will not report, and your home tv/Internet is a coin toss.I used to be with you in saying "screw them", but after seeing the flexibility and options that good credit brings, I now believe it's best to play the game.Best of luck to you regardless of what path you take. :)

Personal preference comes into play...the area of the property, property value, tenants etc all factor into if its worth a 7% CAP Rate etc. 

I suspect if you're a licensed equities investor, or have options to exercise, you can play the leverage game with equities and get similar (or better) returns than in RE.

My opinion, and this is only my opinion, play the hand tight to the vest, but let everyone know that you have a hand to play.  

If their licensed you could point out that your understanding is (look up the state of Texas real estate advertising laws for licensees) and since the ad online lists the units (confirm their availability vis a vie a phone call first before visiting the complex) for rent at X you simply cant understand why a) the units are being offered to you at a higher price b) when you called they were still available (this morning, and hour ago etc) and c) you thought that was against real estate laws.It can't hurt you to play the same hard ball game their using to get higher rents so you can get a lower rent.

I'd like to play the game: If I had a $100K

If you are going to play the 0% interest credit card game, far better to do it with small business cards that don't report balances to credit bureaus as personal debt (e.g., Chase, BofA, Citi).  

The guy learned to play the I am a cash buyer game but hasn't learned that the game has rules too.

The moral of the story is to play the cycles aggressively.