it really depends on if you have other income to supplement but lets say you decided to live off of your rental income and you decided that you were going to have minimal equity max debt on all your props then I think you look at OK what could be worse case during the GFC some markets saw 20 to 50% vacancy some saw 100 but most were 10 to 20% so take that figure and then decide if you need 6 months or one year.. this of course if you are solely dependent on your rental income for your income and have no other income from any other source.  

Your lucky if you get March.I wouldn't waste money going after April rent.

Down in egg harbor theres probably a bunch of older homes that have cesspools, wells, oil tanks etc.Things to consider in older homes is if the foundation has a footing, oil tanks, failing septics, knob and tube wiring, federal electric panels, aluminum wiring, galvanized waste lines, termite damage, old heating systems etc.

Basically, there's a good chance you'll waste your money. 

One other thing to be concerned with is clean up of pet waste.

I like the idea of at LEAST pre-showing it virtually to minimize the exposure on site. 

They wasted your time. 

The folks that have completed the online application, and the people that are probably a waste of time ("call me if you see something good, then I'll think about it").

The options either seem impractical or a waste.

Just reading this is uncomfortable, late in r.e. cycle, top of market purchase with a big rehab project, and what sounds like minimal reserves if rehab takes longer than expected, or job losses freeze the market in the short term.