I don't want to speak to which strategy you should use for decreasing your costs, but I would recommend examining your tenant screening process if you are having to actually go through the whole eviction process that many times.  

Sites like Zillow and RentOMeter say that my ask of $1400 for rent is near the top of the market for the area, but still reasonable for a unit of this size - and that is even without the basement.So does the basement effectively get thrown in for free?

The current owner is shopping it around for 1.35m (7cap) and the proforma numbers are as followed: ANNUALIZED INCOMEActual MarketGross Potential Rent $191,639 Less: Vacancy ($5,749) Effective Gross Income $185,890 Less: Expenses ($91,497) Net Operating Income $94,393 Debt Service ($65,592) Net Cash Flow after Debt Service $28,801 Principal Reduction $17,403Total Return $46,204 ANNUALIZED EXPENSESActual MarketProperty Management Fee $9,582 Replacement Reserves $5,250 Building Insurance $6,712 Maintenance $12,560 Taxes - Real Estate $36,296 (37220 w/o exception)Utility - Electricity $2,453 Utility - Gas $12,369Utility - Water/Sewer $6,275 Total Expenses $91,497 Expenses Per RSF $8.39 Expenses Per Unit $4,357I did some additional digging and found that they offer Wi-Fi for the building (I talked to a rep and said providing service for a building that size should run 285 a month) and the trash was left off which runs about 285/month.

Sometimes there is a rigorous screening process which makes it difficult for tenants to be approved. 

You could ask for a screen shot that the appraisal is ordered, as well. 

My gut feeling says you probably won't get all of the rent, and they'll be out by the first.The most costly expense is a bad tenant, so once they are gone, make sure to screen your next tenants properly.

Define size of each market segment - Number of units sold, dollar values, absorption rate (avg. time it takes to sell)2.

Granted, this 5 unit will be a much larger project, but the size & cost of the project is what's making my other partners a little apprehensive about this property. 

The goal is, or should be to secure income, so if the concern before you even rent is that you might have to evict a tenant, the focus should be on screening and qualifying potential tenants so as to try to minimize, as much as possible, the probability of renting to a troublesome tenant in the first place.

Most tenants do not have an issue supplying them.If you are developing a tenant screening app you would need to remember who your customer is, the landlord, not the tenant.