I've been reading along and trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can in the last 4 years.  

I am new to real estate investing, in fact, I've spent the last few months absorbing as much information as I can.

In terms of the floor footfall noise, I'd say area rugs and hallway runners make a big difference and could help some with the conversation noise too in terms of absorbing sound.

For example, high property tax is a huge problem for 1~4 unit properties while not a problem at all for large apartment building because it will be absorbed into the expenses.Lastly, I recall one interesting personal experience mentioned by author Lance Edwards in his book ”How to make big money in small apartments”.

Soft surfaces absorb and hold smell.

This takes a LOT of my time.If I went to get a judgement against this tenant for the balance of the lease (if I could even find them to serve court papers), the judge would tell me to go pound sand, absorb it as a business expense, go re-rent the apartment, move on with my life and quit bothering him with this "nonsense."

I would think your charge of $1,000 could absorb the extra utilities.All the best!

You will find 100 things that do not go according to plan and you need to be able to absorb them into the deal and make it work. 

The city has 100,000 hotel rooms, so it absorbs the crowds pretty well. 

Some investors with large portfolios can mitigate those losses through unit count, but the smaller investors - most of whom are members of the infamous beleaguered middle class - have less means in absorb that.