Disclaimer: I've done this exactly once.Here are some things I did in the last few days of renting out my single-family house.Go around to all the rooms and make sure everything works - doors open and shut, windows open, shut, and lock, mini-blinds (if any) are securely mounted and work, curtain rods (if any) are securely mounted, closet rods are securely installed, none of the light bulbs are burned out, etc. 

That costs big bucks which I don’t have, so I will just tread lightly on this matter for now.

When comparing the two returns, I want as close to apples vs apples as possible.In light of all that, would anyone invest in cash flowing rentals when the potential appreciation is little to non-existent given the goal is cashflow only?

Died, saw the light.. 

If the borrower does still have title to the property, it is big, bold neon sign to you convince the lender to write-off the balance of the mortgage which would allow you to offer the borrower/owner land-value for the property.The other thing to verify is the state of the property tax account.  

., Did light cosmetic upgrades that make a big difference in retaining and attracting new tenants.

I think your water and trash is light. 

I don't think you are going to find the same deals with online platforms as you will with individual syndicators.To make it simple lets just look at one thing, mailing out the K1 statements at the end of the year.If a syndicator gets 400 investors to invest $50k each that will cost them about $10k to mail out their statements using FedEx.An online platform will have 4000 investors investing $5k each so their K1 mailing will cost about $100k.Everything else will work at about the same ratio.The other problems is that syndicators frequently charge just enough fees to keep the lights on during the project, and make the majority of their money on the sale of the property.

I just think that decision cannot be made lightly.

Light bulbs?