Physical improvements have not been made, but we will update units upon turnovers.

@Joe Fairley I feel a 3% vacancy rate is very low because it must capture physical vacancy, financial vacancy and loss to lease. 

I would make the argument for systems on some of these though, can you set up online payments so they do not need to collect rent physically?

@Syed QuadriNot a lot you can do to force this to close but it certainly sounds like you have a case against the agent for not exercising his duties to you.

If you should want any referrals feel free to message me in BP.A good exercise is to write out the different scenarios on paper - Scendario A - use a cash out refi at a fixed rate, Scenario B - HELOC, Scendario C?

IMO there's no better way to learn about a town than to walk it, whether physically or virtually.

Both are solid if done right, one just is more complex (financing options, physical effort, boxes to check) than the other.

Most lenders won't let you throw in costs for permits, licensing, etc... as those are business expenses and don't add value to the physical property. 

@Benjamin Hirsh this might be a good exercise for other people to see.  

When my wife and I can't physically do it, we pay another agent to help us.