Income, whether it is "very good" or not, is a major component in calculating the return on investment.I bought a STR for $240,000 in 2005, that was only worth $200,000 in 2010 post crash, yet it was yielding $40,000 in rents annually. 

@Andrew DeLorenzo - Absentee Owners are defined as someone who has a separate primary address where their tax bill is sent.You are right that owning a second property isn't automatically a motivating factor, but so many people have been recommending them to investors for so many years...

I am currently in Marlboro, NJ.I would recommend you start by clearly defining your goals. 

So reading through the thread to precisely define the two issues:1.

Will definitely need an attorney to clarify that part - what defines a person who has 'interest' in the property?

Facts are not defined by one's belief.

Not only are there different names for what probably are the same licenses but the language used to to define each term is different.

Good point @Ben Guttman, especially for big renovations and new construction or if you have enough units that justifies establishing a relationship at the first place because the maintenance work is consistent.I would not bet my hat that the guy that fixed up a toilet leak for me a month ago has insurance.I talked to an attorney today and pretty much it seems this would be handled in having your own contract when buying work or repairs to clearly define that the person is not your employee.

Also, with the university being such a major component of rentals, how is the market for non-students been?

You need to do what is best for you based on your own goals in your own strategy I would caution you from asking other people their opinions until you have a clearly defined goal and strategy of your ownRemember that their information could actually put you in a worse position because they're giving you their goals and their strategy based on what they would do not based on what's right for you always be careful of asking other people their opinionFirst thing I would do as others in here have stated is figure out "WHY" you are doing this.