Not for me unless one of the applicants that looked good on paper had a poor credit/background screening report.

I have a 750 credit score, and when I questioned her on the time frame, she estimated it would be two years before I would receive "permission papers" to buy a home through NACA.  

My day job is for a paper company.

The new wall or layout may be slightly different than what you have now, and the pipe isn't that expensive. 

We took them a napkin sketch of the proposed kitchen layout with rough sizes of the walls and where appliances would be.

IE what looks best on paper.. and forgetting that the market prices for risk.. you go for the higher cap rates your taking on greater risk should be no surprise there.. we see investors from low cap rate markets go through this learning curve all the time.. so with cap rates at 4 or 5 in those same markets I suspect the issue suddenly go away.. its the quality of the asset and the tenant base.. bottom line.. throw in city rules which can be researched up front.. 

Use paper towels because you don't want to spread the mold.Having said all of that, if this is your first rental; I'd look for something else. 

Begin a paper trail.

Lay out a healthy down payment, stay in warm weather areas and look for good schools (in as much as I can trust public schools, but that is another story). 

Unless a property returns an estimated 15% or so on paper I do not make an offer.