Purchase price: $115,000 Sale price: $122,000 A colleague was flipping a home and the couple next door approached him with the desire to sell.

I personally love condos as investment only if they are in highly desirable areas that no matter what the economy looks like  rental demand will be there.  

A home with an HOA community will suddenly be more desirable. 

In that case, I would recommend leaning in the school direction, but taking the most specific coursework you can to meet your desired end-goals (as best you understand them at the time!)...

Also on the vacancy I spoke to a local PM who has investments himself and his thoughts were that when you get 6-7-8% that is not desirable as an investment.

This looks like a nice desirable home for a nice family.I also like the color, with the bricks it ties the structure together as one mass vs separate parts.

If so, then perhaps a professional is appropriate and needed for your desired result.In a slightly different way of thinking, if your photographs are stunning, will people who physically view the property be disappointed?

If the FHA loan route doesn't allow that, you could look into some local lenders to get to the structure that you desire.   

The right corner of this property's basement is in a flood zone, which makes this house less desirable to some.

Realistically, everyone has a different desired profit (vs capital utilized) for there to be any generic or widespread rule-of-thumb.