Another investor in our mortgage fund wanted to visit every borrower and discuss their personal financial situation with them.  

No plans to stop. 

I have also been introduced recently to a woman who is looking to be a financial partner.

Stay in the same housing plan, school district, etc.Don't just look at sold comps, also look for active, contingent, and under contract listings.

Great tools that get updated regularly.I am on the lending side of things and would be happy to hop on a call with you anytime to discuss financial strategies and help answer any questions you may have about nearly any loan product available to help you on your journey, even if they are not products my capital partners offer.We are all here to help you learn and grow.

Everything went well and I thought this could be a good niche but at the end of the day they don't always need a house and you really can't plan vacancies in advance. 

Do a search on county assessors site and with the city to determine empty lot plans/issues.  

I really appreciate the suggestion to engage local RE investment groups with this question which I plan to do.

I plan to make the tenant pay for electricity since the bills are already separated, but as the landlord, I plan on paying for gas and water.

While you shouldn’t categorize all tenants and it’s the landlords responsibility to properly screen, the tenants who reside in better situated housing and pay higher rents are more financially responsible meaning lower rate of rent loss and will generally take better care of the property which combined will result in less time allocated towards management functions if self-performed or more favorable management fee structures if 3rd party management companies are utilized (which ties back to #1, as well).