Consider rent for other units in comparable condition a little further from your property particularly if next door is in much poorer condition.

I'm also going to try to find them a comparable place to live...

There's a very small sample size for comparable apartments on zillow/craigslist/realtor.com and I was wondering if anyone has any strategies they've used to calculate accurate/conservative rent prices for specific neighborhoods?

Love to compare notes.

He set up a time for me to go take a look at the houses and when we got there his tenants were happy to see him and gave him a hug and talked with him about how things were going as they showed the house.I compare that experience to a different experience I had where we purchased a property that had 2 homes on it where the tenants had no relationship with the owner.

Traditional HARP loans were for GSE loans originated prior to May, 2009 and Fannie/Freddie loans were subject to conforming limits so, it wasn't a HARP loan if there was a refi in 2017 and for that amount although, if the loan balance was ten times lower?

The house isn't going anywhere, so handle the IRS and get them out of your life, then move forward with a traditional loan.

If I compare the rental income to the PITI payment it's actually just positive, but with other expenses (water/sewer/trash and capex, calculated by using 8% of rents), it turns into ~$500 month coming out of my pocket.

I have a stone guy if you want to price compare. 

One of the best ways to get started is by using a 203K or rehab loan... this will allow you to get in the property with 3.5% down and you can even finance the rehab.Interest rates are a bit higher than traditional FHA loans but the 3rd "R" stands for REFINANCE so you'll only be holding that loan for a short time.I'd speak to a local lender, broker, and investor for more info.Aside from attending local meet-ups, don't hesitate to reach out to people personally via private message or on forum posts...