So I'll put two appraisals in front of our appraisal department head honcho dude, a normal one and a low quality one, and let him decide which is more credible (obviously this also doesn't work if the first appraisal was credible, done well, and the value just isn't there) and which opinion of value we will use.

Just sayin if you want your product to stand out, mayyyyybe push the envelope a little!

I am currently searching for my first property, but I am finding it a challenge to make it happen within 70% of the ARV(ARV found using the low end of comps).

The problem is that most agents don't want to run around and show you 30-40+ houses, put in a bunch of low offers just to find out you can't qualify down the road (not saying you can't qualify, but they don't know that)..

Using that rate may be considered alright or it may be a little low and raise a red flag somewhere.

Hello Daniel, My background was in the film industry in production and it definitely came in handy while renting out a furnished house.

No management company is an expert with low end renters.

@David Thompson Great insight, thanks for a different perspective, I like the mold of diversifying how you invest, it is similar to how I am looking at a new business adventure I started, While the returns of selling the product myself are greater, by letting someone else take a share of the pie and having them do the leg work my returns are INFINITE.

Anywhere you have low lying areas close to water you're going to have an added carrying cost for flood insurance (unless 100% equity).  

The repair costs seem low for the Midwest