Well, again, this was my first property, I wanted to maintain the relationship and not be too hasty to fire anyone, so I just kept trying to hang in there.

These apartments had bad renters and was not properly maintained.

They can be a little more hassle to deal with (imagine 5-6 people in one home), however you only have 1 roof, 1 kitchen (and 1-2 bathrooms) to maintain.  

He can focus on getting and maintaining qualitg tenants and learn how to manage property managers instead of being a landlord, which ultimately turns his investment into another job. 

(A) A landlord who is a party to a rental agreement shall do all of the following:(1) Comply with the requirements of all applicable building, housing, health, and safety codes that materially affect health and safety;(2) Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition;(3) Keep all common areas of the premises in a safe and sanitary condition;(4) Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord;(5) When the landlord is a party to any rental agreements that cover four or more dwelling units in the same structure, provide and maintain appropriate receptacles for the removal of ashes, garbage, rubbish, and other waste incidental to the occupancy of a dwelling unit, and arrange for their removal;(6) Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water, and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building that includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose, or the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility connection;(7) Not abuse the right of access conferred by division (B) of section 5321.05 of the Revised Code;(8) Except in the case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so, give the tenant reasonable notice of the landlord's intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times.

In addition to your down payment and closing costs, are you setting aside reserves for the eventual vacancy, maintainence/repairs, and capex costs?  

If we refinance and still hold the properties, they maintain their ownership percentage, but if they have all of their cash back there will no longer be the preferred return. (2B) If they want bought out, but it's not majority to sell the properties, they can sell their ownership stake along with all benefits to any one at any time.

Also, you want to maintain plenty of cash flow, equity, and cash reserves in order to protect yourself when the market turns or something unexpected happens ... leverage must be managed very carefully and consciously because it can be a blessing or a curse to you, and cash flow alone is not enough to fully protect you.

I'm having a problem trying to maintain my price.

As long as none of it is active then it no longer poses a fire risk, removing is not essential.