It is amazing the cities try to take aim at the landlord ( and of course there are slumlords) but I suggest that most folks on BP that buy into these situations are NOT slumlords but when they encounter the issue you describe which is constant through the asset class they run out of money they get thoroughly discouraged by how this class of tenant lives and acts and just throw up their hands then get labeled as the greedy out of state landlords who wont keep their properties up..

We keep it professional and try not to get emotional about it.

Keep us posted.

I suggest just keep it simple, RE is just about math, end of story.

The other day I had the grand idea that if we converted the basement into a livable space, we could keep both tenants in their apartments and collect both rents while still following the FHA requirment to live at the property for the first year.

Will keep you posted for the rough cost , as after this I have 2 more underpining in line that I will be doing, all row houses. 

When I am done with school, we will refinance the mortgage, pull out all of my joint ventures principal payment plus an additional 10-15 percent for them to keep as a term of the deal.

I second @Sarah Kensinger on keeping on the city for info.

I need to keep everything very local for now, which is challenging, but I'm willing to face a challenge.

Usually, 20 to 30 units is the tipping point for self-management, so you might want to keep expanding your doors until you feel the benefits of that cash flow (as well as the pain of the management).