.: My wife and I are considering getting a home closer to her family to stay in for extended periods and holidays.   

If you don't really need the cash flow now and you are going more for appreciation, stay local.

So the Janitor usually wins, defined as making more passive income than your expenses, because his expenses start off so low and stay low.Unfortunately, after you play it a while, you get to know what to look for, like when that one stock becomes available for, I forget, $3 or something ...

A reliable tenant stays for many years, pays the rent on schedule, and takes good care of the property.Reliable tenants are the exception, not the norm.

Stay tuned to see if they collect anything.

I've found that having a good team of people who trust each other, stay in their lanes, and communicate are the biggest reasons we have succeeded.

If not I’d consider staying with the rental and raising the rent to market rate at lease renewal in May.

@Scott GorhamSome of the strategies for buying a property if the original mortgage stays in the seller's name would be subject-to or a wraparound mortgage.

Now, after 10 months of stay, tenant is asking to get bed bug inspection done.

If it's gas heat, electric still needs paid so that the furnace stays on.