When I sold it, paying off that loan, dropping my total debt, lowering my debt to income ratio, moving from 2 mortgages to 1, only increased my credit score by 1 point.I will NEVER under how credit scores work, but I know they affect chances of getting a mortgage and interest rates you can get.

Because most of the closing costs are fixed, the percentage can be extremely high on lower priced properties.

any fee's you pay to foreclose are also added to your note.. and if someone took it sub too those folks generally wont have the ability to cure.. but maybe.. a lot of sub too in lower value assets is get in title for very little money then rip the rents.. knowing they will have one to two years in the foreclosure process so they get 800 a month for a few years.. do not pay anything on the property and walk away..

What is the time frame you usually take to see the trend?

This does have some limitations in that cannot stop them from doing partial payments, which could be a problem if they are facing eviction, etc— but if this is an issue then I guess can just return the money to them without jeopardizing your eviction time frame etc, as long as you have clearly said that no partial payments accepted.

. $50K is the minimum criteria on the lower side with most lenders.

I really like / prefer the 14 unit property due to its lower asking price but CAN NOT afford to hemorrhage money monthly like it currently is.

There are 4-plexes in the south end that are well within that price range,  but you will be dealing with a lower socio-economic bracket of tenants that you are probably used to with your townhouse.  

Like you, the higher market has given me an opportunity to prune lower performers and re-invest in better deals, when  I can find them.  

The interest expense on the loan would lower the taxable income on your investment.