You're on the right track though and it could still be a great property if you can raise rents significantly...

Top growth submarkets w/n the city2) The deal - value add; conservative underwriting3) The sponsor - philosophy, track record.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/9145/53959-vet...

Track every income and expense you incur and/or are responsible for in report form and review them regularly with others you know and try to possibly reduce the expenses or increase income.In the beginning especially, always do this when you are looking at properties you are to buy, you do the math anaysis and try to look at the subject properties before you make an offer or at least have clause in the sales contract that allows you some time (usually 10 to 15 days) to make a detailed inspection of the subject property and possibly back out without a penalty that hurts you too bad.I found BP about 19 months ago while at home and medically recovering when I needed something that was more flexible than a typical 9 to 5 job and I was qualified for at 60.  

People will not be very trusting of you until you have some sort of track record.

It's somewhat nebulous and often hard to prove but the lenders don't like and most often won't fund a loan unless its been proven and the burden of proof is on the buyer.

Track all of the expenses and income in report form and have 3rd parties to help you possibly save on expenses o growing income. 

Now you've been through one of those "what if" scenarios and proven you could persevere! 

Does anyone have a solution to integrate Quickbooks with the reports from Appfolio and also provide some investment tracking?

I closely track the PL of every project and with major rehabs the holding time durring renovation and extra "suprises" seem to eat away at the bottom line.

Using private money tacks established track record and personal connections mostly.