Those are roughly in risk/reward order from lowest to highest, though they will all give you some hedge against inflation. 

Many people take similar risks.

I live in a Suburb near Detroit and I am new to R.E.I. however if you are investing 100k in Detroit you are taking a big risk. 

Once you have both numbers then you can see if the risks justify renting with either option.  

This investing thing especially as a passive investor is not a get rich thing but relatively low risk.

I financed the best one conventionally at the highest appraised price possible, then had them carry the others at a comparable discount using some of the loan money as DPs on the seller financed properties.  

If you are looking for a 100% risk-less & predictable place to park your money I'd suggest a CD at your local bank.

This is right up your alley.Cap rates do not tell you anything meaningful about a property except the unleveraged returns and risk (lower cap rate = less risk).

It's up to you on how much risk you want to absorb and for how long and come out positive. 

.- Risk that prices increase substantially over the next 3-5 years, and outpace any of the benefits aboveLeaning towards selling since it’s hard to pass up free money, I’m not sure prices have much further to go from here, and we’re not sure we’d like to move back to the same home that’s been rented for 3-5 years anyway.