Section 8 may increase what they are willing to pay after the rehab.Or if one tenant is maybe undesirable, discontinue the lease with that tenant and rehab that apartment, then move one of the other ones into that unit. 

The $100k properties will be in undesirable areas and your equity will die in market downturns (which we may be in now).

In full honesty, I don’t completely understand why it’s so undesirable.

You gotta turn the brain on a little and think a little harder about things that are going on behind-the-scenes before you can determine that you have an accurate picture or assessment of something somebody claims.I suspect the statistic is some of both: Tenants that do not need to be evicted much and landlords that due to the process will attempt to find other methods to get undesirable tenants to leave.My family and I have been landlords in San Diego since the late 1970s and have not yet needed to evict anyone (knock on wood). 

In order to go out of state, you'll need 20% down and you'll be limited to very low-end properties in undesirable markets, which is not only a tough gig but also one that you'll want $15k just in reserves for.

. ~$20k per unit indicates a highly distressed asset, or an undesirable location.

Reviewing active listings (what most people do) distorts reality, because many listings sit for a long time because they are overpriced, have some kind of issue, or are otherwise undesirable.

Most $20,000 parcels will be undesirable for some reason (flooding, remoteness, lack of utilities, poor terrain).

Unfortunately, I've noticed exactly the same thing you have -- duplexes and triplexes are in very undesirable areas of the city!

Drama and conflict is undesirable.