We are looking into purchasing our first mid-term rental about 5mins from a hospital but the crime rate according to neighborhoodscout.com is 32 per 1000 residents which is relatively high in Massachusetts.

Hey Bill, totally can relate with you being from an expensive real estate market - I moved to Columbus a few years ago (from Portland, Oregon which was super expensive) to become a full time real estate investor, and ever since, I've completed quite a lot of BRRRRs, flips, and own a successful rental portfolio here in Columbus Ohio.

Hopefully it can provide you with a path on how to resolve your issue. 

The other big issue is they did not realize that returns in the US totally correlate to the risks involved.

Remarkably, despite these ongoing shifts, delinquency rates remain low on a relative basis when compared to the office, retail, and hospitality sectors.Although factors such as declining household formations, rising supply deliveries, and weakening demand may present temporary obstacles, the sector has successfully emerged from similar challenges in the past.

Maybe I am having a Google issue or something, but when I search for these, I am not confident in what I am finding as being what I am looking for.

If you have a relatively new FNMA mortgage, you can usually Quit Claim to a single-member LLC without violating the clause.Any other mortgage probably won't allow, so you should understand the risks if you proceed. 

Got a relator to agree to be the named person for the state and now they say they can't. 

If you are considering MFH in San Diego, hopefully (1) you are working with an astute agent who has or can address these issues. 

Once you have a handful of units, things become more stable because you gain a lot of experience and also when issues arise at one unit, the other units still carry the expenses.