Since you don't own the property you cannot make any major repairs or improvements to the property without the owner's consent because if you make repairs and don't pay the contractor(s) then the contractors will file a Mechanics Lien against the property and the owner will be liable to pay the contractors.If you do repairs to the property and you don't own the property the owner can sue you for destroying the property.Should the seller decide he (or she) no longer wants to sell the property because he either wants to keep it, or he can sell it for cash on the market then he will sue you in court for whatever his attorney can come up with and you can get sued just because the contract the seller wrote has some b.s. that makes in not valid.It doesn't matter whether you are right or wrong when  you get sued because when you receive a Sheriff serves you with a lawsuit you now have to make some serious and hard decisions in regards to whether or not you want to pay an attorney $50,000 to $100,000 to settle the lawsuit that often takes up to 5 years to settle in court.How do I know all this?

But today, you have a considerable amount of equity built in paydown and appreciation to access, and you can use that equity to improve the current house and purchase more.Many people find suitable alternatives to manage a handful of properties from a distance, so even if you move eight hours away, you can do most of the managing yourself by building relationships with contractors and real estate agents, paying a small fee for them to help as need requires.Only sell if you know the choice is mathematically correct, rationally made, and leads to more property acquisition now.

The lower priced per unit buildings tend to never improve more than enough to cover issues.

You'll still be negative CF, or so close to it you'll be waiting for it to happen every month.Seller financing should be used as a way of improving a deal...not making it worse. 

Setting up multiple LLC's, paying annual filing fees, paying a CPA to file 6 tax returns, 6 bank statements, and keeping each separate may mean you now need a staff book keeper on payroll.

I have 5 years of home improvement construction experience, so determining whether to write an address down came naturally to me.

My question is this: should I try and get a tenant in my rental as fast as possible or spend the upfront money to improve the home so as to have it appraise more?

I may have to wait until I close this deal to do it, however, I am genuinely working toward improving my credit so I can just buy when needed.Hard money is an option and then just hold it until the time is up but that gets very pricey very fast for each monthly payment until paid back.I have also been looking into the promissory note idea.

All my tenants are 700 + FICO for a reason, much less headaches. there you go self management in my experience is very easy I have my staff track them and all is good. 

Will you put up with roommates until your income improves in a few years?