Also, many communities will not allow rentals & must be owner occupied.If you do not own the community, it can be a very difficult venture.

I know that I'm going to lose $4k-$5k in turning over a tenant... especially if there's an extended vacancy and your PM charges a large placement fee.Lastly, if you're PM is charging a large placement fee...

The minimal cost is not worth the risk of losing everything (not my flip thankfully but I got a free lesson out of it)

We understand it's likely will be losing money every month, even with it rented out, but we would like to maximize our rental profit. 

I'm thinking I need to find someone to partner with who has some experience to help protect against losing somebody's investment money.For my first deal, I'm looking in the South-East and for approximately a 6-12 unit apartment to start building my reputation and track record. 

Besides the property, he has Municipal Utility District bonds that will close in 7 months, proceeds to be used to pay off a loan if the SFR developer is unable to lose.

You can check out this article on venture specific LLCs here.Just some thoughts!

You can do everything right on your analysis and still lose money.  

Justify your price drop by explaining how much it would cost to clean up the property, how much it's losing every month with low rent, etc.

A reasonable range would be 5.5% - 6.5% if you havent been quoted yet.I suspect you'll be losing about $200-$300/mo. on this property.