Does this appraisal fee seem high.

I've seen many times landlords try to save a few bucks on the lease and pay thousands in court and eviction fees.

Pet fees?

The tenants pay a fee of $3/month.

The HOA payments were not made and I got a foreclosure warning for two years of unpaid HOA fees.

@Andre Minasyan,He mentions the supply vs demand issue.He did not mention the factors which are currently dampening demand.Lending is still quite dear, though there has been some improvement.

Some of the most important factors in REI that will help you choose your path are your comfort level with debt and general risk tolerance and your available time. 

That will be ther determining factor to where we eventually settle.Ill look into Ohio, a colleagues wife back in Australia is a Buckeye so could pick her brain about there as well.Take care

I came by the ARV by looking at Zillow for the value of similarly-equipped homes in the area, then derated the value by 2% as a fudge factor.

Even though you have tenants "paying" this fee I think you can justify paying the refi fees, and finding a higher and better use of the PMI fees.