High maintenance renters....what to do

[Ed Lopez]

Hello, I was hoping to get some advice on what to do with my renters and property management company.  A little background, we had a home built in 2012 in an A neighborhood.  It was our primary residence until January of this year when we purchased a new home.  We rented out the 2012 home through a property management company.  There is not generally tons of cashflow in rental properties in this area, but considering we had a conventional loan with 4 years worth of equity in it, we were able to rent it to a family in which the husband and wife are both doctors at a nearby hospital for a small amount of cashflow.  The home rents for $2000, property manager charges $100 per month, my payment is $1800 and change.  I pay a gardener $30 per month to pull weeds so as you can see, its tight.  

Initially the property manager contacted me with a few requests of the renters such as  changing some light bulbs, a fridge filter and installing a garage door opener for them.  He mentioned he was telling me in case I wanted to DIY to save paying someone to come out to install these items.  I appreciated that and installed the opener.  Two weeks later they called me directly and complained about a mildew smell in the front loader washing machine (we left all of the appliances to rent with the house).  I went and installed a toploader.  The following week they called me complaining that the garage door opener wasn't working.  I went back by and found that someone had pulled the manual disconnect rope.  

I mentioned this to the property manager and he said he would talk to them about contacting me directly.  This morning the property manager contacted me saying they were complaining about the house being full of ants and cockroaches and requested I contact a pest control company or said he could do it and bill me.  Mind you, this was my primary residence for almost 5 years and I never saw one cockroach there.  Ants are seasonal in the area (its near a golf course in the country).  We usually set out a couple of ant traps near the doors and that's all it would take.  I have no more room to pay a pest control company $35/month. With the garage door opener and general maintenance, I will be lucky to break even on this property this year.  

I suggested to the property manager that since it seemed like the renters had priorities other than price, maybe we could offer a revised rental rate where all of those things were included possibly including a cleaning service or water delivery or whatever lumped into a new rental price.  That way, no calls for me, easy comfort for them, win win.  The property manager seemed opposed to this idea and said as renters, it is illegal to require them to have any services.  The property manager is also a realtor and has suggested selling the home multiple times.  I really want some steady passive income and have no desire to sell.  

Any suggestions? I am new to the landlord game.  Thanks guys.