Apply for a credit card at your local Home Depot or Lowes.

Credit scores can be as low as 640 but that will affect loan to value and potentially approval.

However if you see a $220k listing for a duplex where the rents are $700/month, unless the rents are grossly low the property is probably not worth doing a full analysis on.

Tenants are responsible for property taxes, insurance on the building, and common area and maintenance costs under triple net lease.

How about the monthly recurring cost?  

Your cost of living sucks in NYC so that hurts as well.You say you want financial freedom, but what you really want is time freedom and the only way to get time freedom is through earning money to give you that.

The lack of communication between the different departments has cost me thousands of dollars.Good luck with wherever you end up and whichever company you choose!

You could aim to get the studious, low key, chill type of tenant as opposed to the rambunctious party animals typically found in a college setting thus avoiding the types of "confrontation" that are likely to come with the latter.

If it is a viable option, any idea of the rough costs involved?

You may very well have a lawsuit on your hands, which will be very costly and be difficult to enforce too.