Nightmare property. What would you do?

[Kris Mead]

I have a property that has been an absolute nightmare and I’m not sure how I want to move forward.  The property is located in the 72209 zip.

I am trying to get to the root of the issue and I’m worried it could be multiple things.

I purchased the property at the end of 2019 and we will start with tenants.

Tenant 1 was fine until she lost her job and her replacement job didn’t pay nearly as much.  She left on her own after 5 months and I was only out a months rent. 2 month turnover until the next tenants are in.

Tenant 2 was a couple and they were great, but they weren’t reporting issues with the house which came to be quite a disaster.  The toilet was running and they never reported it they were also having issues with the sewer drain plugging up and sometimes backing up into the tub which they were able to fix on their own most of time but obviously the issue was never resolved because it kept coming back.  Long story not so long the two issues joined forces when they were out for 12 hours and sewer had been flooding the house nearly the entire time.  Massive insurance claim to the tune of almost 40k which included hot water heater, furnace and pretty much everything else inside the house.  They then got mad at me,  stopped paying and then moved out leaving me a few months short.

Tenant 3 was in within a few weeks but in the time of them moving in to having to pay 2nd months rent all their assets had been frozen and the previously cleared rent check had been clawed back by their bank.  They moved out leaving me out a months rent.

The newest tenant took almost 4 months to place and now we have tenant 4.  This long turnover period was SUPPOSED to be so we could finally get someone decent in this house.  As they were moving in someone did something to the electric meter killing the power to the house and then they stole the AC condenser with the tenants in the property.  These guys moved in at the end of March and the excuses started IMMEDIATELY.  They then got current and even paid Most of June early, but that’s been it.  They have bounced every check since and one of the neighbors reported that the husband moved out months ago.  So now she is full on nasty and making all sorts of allegations against my property manager.  So she is on her way out and I’m out some of June and all of July/August.

I’ll add that I’m an out of state investor and I’m relying 100% on my property manager.  I was well aware that this zip code can be sketchy in areas and thought that I was in the halfway decent part.  I spoke with a few managers and they all seemed comfortable with the area and no one expressed any concerns in that regard. 

What would you do?

Should I cut my losses and sell this house?  I know this is the emotional choice, but my wife has been over it for over a year and I’m right with her.

Is property management the issue?  The other houses I have with him are mostly doing okay.

Has it just been a string of bad luck and should I stick with it considering the house is brand new?

Thank you for sticking with this long and rambling post.