I have them in 3 of my student rentals where I supply the heat, thermostats are locked up and I can monitor, turn off and on the heat, raise or lower the heat from anywhere.

Looking at those terms they sound fairly reasonable, 8% is actually lower than the standard in St.

If you really want to gamble your risks would be lower at the race track.

As for the "feel like I am buying a safe investment but not achieving a high yielding asset", well that's kind of how investments work, more risk=higher potential return (higher yield) the lower the risk generally = the lower return. 

owner has not rented it out this semester due to do some rehab, actually did most of the bathrooms and they are in good shape, carpet is awful, needs paint, kitchen cabinets and better lighting. lower level apt needs gutted due to toilet leaking from above. here are the numbers:purchase price 330krents last semester avg=333/month, did not rent over summer, "I let them just leave their stuff til the next semester", my friend was seeing RED after this statement...expensesrents (if occupied at 333)=3663/monthtaxes 2200garbage =100 (actual quote from WM)water and sewage 525electrical=passed through to tenantPM=started looking, but quotes at 8-10%insurance= 300 (est.)planning on ripping carpet out and going with vinyl hardwood throughout, new cabinets in kitchen and paint, fix lighting and general clean up. plan to get rents up to 500-550 month, lease term 1 year. interviewed PM and he said they take one month's rent for placing a tenant, is this typical?

We are considering refinancing to pay off some debt and take out our PMI to lower our monthly pay down.

"Deciding" to artificially lower these amounts in order to qualify for a mortgage is otherwise known as mortgage fraud.

@Matt Morand In our experience, the costs to turnover a unit are directly tied to the class of tenant living in the unit and how long they have lived there.If you are dealing with lower C and D type areas you can expect at minimum to have to repaint the entire apartment and any carpeting every time someone moves out.

Cons: my grandfather hack jobbed most repairs. leaking roof, stoop and porch need redone, lower unit kitchen needs complete remodel, 4-5 coats of paint on all walls, reoccurring mold in 1 bedroom and same bedroom needs insulation, upstairs unit you can hear anything and everything, all doors are original that came with the home, also have 4-5 coats of paint on them. small cockroach pest problem (not severe YET), Bathroom needs remodel and sewage lines need repair.

Finding homes as investments has lower criteria in at least the finding aspect than finding the forever home.