I am in a unique situation.

@Scott Trench had an interesting blog article on these themes recently.

The topic of bringing value is a common theme and one that will bring you great success if followed.

A common theme among the commenters here is that I was budgeting way too much for paint.

I would normally use 10, 15, 10, 10 as a minimum unless there were unique factors (like newly renovated/constructed), and go up from there. 5% of 550/mo is only $330/year/unit - that could get swallowed up in a single service call for a malfunctioning furnace.

Each situation is unique and ultimately you should evaluate what’s an acceptable return for you considering you are out of state.

I am not unique.

I know of a couple anecdotes with folks offering seller financing - enough to say that these are often very unique situations. 

Does your property have unique features not typical in your market or is it recently renovated? 

I’ve been actively working to repair my credit for the last two years. My debt to credit ratio is down, my payments are on time. What’s really dragging down my score are the late payments shown on my record for debts ...