On the other hand, you can make money in any area, even areas with no growth as there are still people that live there, even if the population is declining. 

You have to have extremely clearly defined rules and even then those are always misinterpreted.

They are not too far off from a 30 year fixed mortgage, sometimes even the same rate. 

Sometimes you can tell because of rust staining and buildup on the outside of such affected pipes,   but even without that they can be weakened considerably from their original state.On the drain side galvanized branch drains  (1.25 through 2" galvanized pipes)  can also rust out or clog up as the rust on the inside is very rough and catches hair, grease,  and other debris and will eventually need aggressive rootering,   which if the pipes have rusted enough may open up holes in them.I should note CAST IRON (hub and bell) old sewer pipe,  at least the 3" and 4" stuff seems to have a bit longer lifespan than galvanized steel;  it still rusts but doesn't crumble and flake and encourage blockages like steel does,   so an old house with a cast 4" sewer stack you may be fine for many decades more if you just replace all the branch lines going into it but leave the main stack.   

Hey Chris,Yeah, it's going to vary pretty widely by group, and even internally within a lender their programs will vary based on the committed square footage that is committed to residential v. commercial.You will also likely find variance depending on where the property is located and the active tenant situation.

Even if I did that, the first year itself would end up only paying for the furnishings.This might be a broad question, but here it is - with a $1,450 mortgage, insurance, taxes payment, could / would a nice 3/2 about 40 minutes north of Nashville downtown net enough to be worth it (again, my "worth it" would be netting $1,500 a month on average after mortgage, insurance, listing fees, management fees, cleaning services, etc.)?

But what if you have limited funds, even after budgeting, saving, etc, and will continue to have limited funds for the foreseeable future? 

All strongly appeciating neighborhoods, but can be a rough tenant base.A rent by the room situation (renting our basement if it is legal living space) could be a good solution in Brightwood or Riggs Park...or even Silver Spring.

I've researched this in many cities and have never even seen one as low as 2-3 unrelated individuals.

If it is cheaper to own, you may want to buy and even if you sell in 2 years (assuming the development is finished on time), you may still come out ahead in terms of selling the property vs paying someone else's mortgage.