Then I found out months later the municipal utility transfers unpaid water bills to your tax bill with fines and penalties.

My long term tenant/friend (at this point) moved with us and stayed until our second boy was born.My wife and I both work, so I'm looking for a little more hands off approach. 

If the tenant didnt hand over keys , they are still in possession  , its called tenant hold over .  

Based on  what I have learned form other investors, it may be best to keep an attorney on hand and or a title company.

On the other hand I really don't like higher end rentals , harder to find tenants and adding a lot more stress if they are vacant .

Can you take info that you read or watch on video and take action on it without any outside motivation or do you need some hand-holding to help you learn the transaction (learn by doing - kinesthetic learning)There are more considerations to take into account but for the sake of my limited time; I'm happy to connect with you on the phone to discuss further. 

Our rentals include older homes with hand-done plaster textures that are hard to replicate when patching.We are in our first round of renters so time will tell if this is a good method or not.  

I did transfer my part of the company to my partners because I came to the US to do my MBA, it was fantastic, and Spain can be very fun to invest in if you have the relationships - that was our edge.Our experience was that commercial brings you more "serious" tenants, and for mid-market deals, it definitely saves a lot of headaches.

@Matt Kauffman  i always put 10% for PM, 7% for Capex, 7% for maintenance, and 8-10% for vacancy. all for rainy day. this money is actually transferred month in to saving account with the reference RESERVES. 

They tell us the new tax laws is creating a lot of compliance issues and I am hoping they will not file extension with 45 days time to work on.I think a local tax CPA allows you to meet in person and handed the data/records.