Ideally, I'm looking for a way to do my own deal without giving up my stake in my friends property and without burning bridges between us.

Screening the tenants is part of the process, but eventually if you're in the game long enough you will get burned no matter how much you screen. 

Tenants are going to get burned during the winter as I'm not sure even a normal sized person can walk normally through there without brushing the radiator.

Until they burn down the apartment.

I definitely would like to avoid getting burned.

That adds another $3800 to the bottom line but hopefully I'll get some of that back in a higher appraisal and it will also likely help get and keep quality tenants.One other thing to discuss for the good of the community is the capital burn rate.

I had 3 leases of putting it on market and the guy I picked played games and burned me right before Christmas, so had to eat an extra few weeks to get it leased but put it back on and got 3 more applications with a higher rent Lessons learned?

My other fear is non paying tenants, destruction of property etc...what happens when the place burns down because a tenant forgot to put her cigarette out?

Personally, I would LOVE to buy Phoenix during a downturn when CA investors got burned and busted....  

Hard money lenders are a dime a dozen.You can also check in your personal/business network for someone with a large untapped HELOC burning a hole in their pocket.