Gradual deterioration or aging of anything is not my priority - only stains, scuffs, holes, tears, and excessive damage caused by my fault or negligence.

I'd recommend at least a $250 non refundable pet deposit, depending on the size of the unit you might consider a weight restriction, I don't have one but sometimes they make sense. 

Not even the 80/20 rule with realtors, more like the 97/3 rule in my experience.A good realtor, better yet a good realtor that is also a good RE investor, is worth their weight in gold.

I don't want to weight too heavily on subsidy rentals or ones in C class neighborhoods.

We had one house we bought in the hood for 7k, I send one of my guys, older ex-special ops guy, was over weight, limped walked  with a cane. 

This is completely fine, but if you were in this solely for investment I would place a lot of weight on your management strategy.

Plus, it will take time to get this property fully occupied, so the vacancy % willl gradually increase and I figure I may need to start at a lower rent to get it filled quick, and increase it over time.Do you have a process in place to account for fully vacant MF properties when finding the data and calculating the offer price & ROI?

Leverage, partnership, working your way up to it, live farther out and gradually move in, who knows?

Why turn to happy hour and use other vices as band-aids but rather share them with others so advice can be given and a weight can be lifted from your chest.My stories range from trying to appease all 8 heirs to a probate acquisition... to showing up in the early morning to a Buckhead rehab with the back door kicked in and all tools stolen... to having no contractors show up for a week due to a myriad of excuses... to finding a lien on the property due to a previous owner... to the joys of dealing with historic district supposed guidelines... to listing a property in 2016 and finding out 80% of the "cash offers" are from wholesalers and digging to figure out who is a real cash buyer.At the same time, the highs of listing and receiving a dozen cash offers within the first 48 hours is a rush that is hard to compare.  

Another thing you might think about doing is renting out a room in your current residence and making them sign a lease and whatnot that way you can prove to the lender once it comes time for you to have proof that you've had the experience instead of just saying "I have a room rented out in my home" you can just hand them the paper with the tenant's info on it; it carries more weight, if that makes sense.