But from what I've heard it seems that ground rent is largely limited to Maryland at this point and in particular Baltimore City (yay, another hoop for us to jump through).

I am an agent and have limited experience in Property Management.Some of her requests include the following (Tenant and LL verbally agreed already):Tenant will do all the cleaning and cover the costs before move-inTenant may make home improvements upon LL final approval and city permits3 Month Security DepositI did some digging on BiggerPockets. 

property is a duplex with a attic studio. now the attic studio has a separate entrance but no fire escape so that is a liability. however I will be house hacking and living in the attic and can't sue myself lol.The units seem extremely well kept from a first perspective a very well taken care of property it has off street parking and 3 parking slabs in the back. each unit is 2 bedroom 1 bath. avarage rent in the area I've seen 725 and 950 I've looked on centimeter and 800 850 is about avarage.

Obviously like you stated, taxes and VA limits will be different for different states and countieswithin those states so looking at what you can afford to live within your means in case of vacancies is a big factor. 

Doing so limits a little bit of risk with dealing with market cycles of students and opens up the property for more potential renters.      

You have to be more creative with them but it can be so much betterBy being more creative I mean with the financing but, surprisingly, there are many people that will owner finance if you show them the math and how much more they can make and spread out the tax liability over the period of the loan instead of paying it all at once when they close. 

You would be shocked at how some high income earners live and treat rental units that arent theirs, most renters are fine but many are entitled and may take you to court or stiff you on a repair bill rather than assume liability.

(a) “Common Area Operating Expenses” are defined, for purposes of this Lease, as all costs incurred by Lessor relating to the ownership and operation of the Project, including, but not limited to, the following:(i) The operation, repair and maintenance, in neat, clean, good order and condition of the following:(aa) The Common Areas and Common Area improvements, including parking areas, loading and unloading areas, trash areas, roadways, parkways, walkways, driveways, landscaped areas, bumpers, irrigation systems, Common Area lighting facilities, fences and gates, elevators, roofs, and roof drainage systems.

PM me if interested.1) Impose rental occupancy limits: Notify if unit is sub-leased, has more occupants than on the lease, running a business or having regular parties in quiet hours.2) Detect any loitering and prowling.

One of the ideas that I'm evaluating is to acquire a small piece of property within the city limits near a train station of local towns such as Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Lewisville, Plano, Euless etc,.