If they are paying late several times a year you have a tenant that can not afford the unit and as smart business practice you should be planning to change out that tenant before they stop paying entirely.

Also investing in another property probably would consist of me staying at my current job or working for someone else for the next several years which I’m desperately trying to get out of.

Andrew, there are several very knowledgeable accountants here on BiggerPocekts who are experienced with REI.

If you're only getting 4 or 5% CoC Return on the capital you're investing, you'd be better off investing in the stock market, which I believe has historically returned an average 9 - 9.5% over the past several decades.

We are looking to save some money on residence hall expenses over the next several years and keep the home as rental after my daughter graduates. 

Basically there is no contingency period, and the prices go up significantly from the starting bid and often don't meet the reserve price and go through the process again several times before they are sold.

She then proceeded to list off several mentors around my area so that I could narrow them down to the ones based closest to me. 

Yes, I have done these several times. 

@Andrew Lydon there are several commercial options.  

I have talked to several different investors about how they decide what return they look for and some do it by a dollar amount and some are looking for a certain percentage.