I'm not sure about the potential for liability in a wrongful death suit if somebody is injured or killed in the fire, but definitely would not want to find out personally, nor would I want to live with that on my conscience.  

Would love feedback from anyone with personal investing and/or property management experience in these cities.

Hi Ivan,Agreed,  very intelligent person.

@Dustin Horner you should be contracting maintenance work and creating a preferred list of vendors as @Phillip Austin has recommended.The first person you hire to help you should be to handle what you LEAST like to do yourself or has the greatest time savings for you!

Yes, as I'm doing more research, I'm finding that I would prefer to invest in markets that I know personally, so as not to rely on external variables completely.

Hi Adam,The seller pays the seller commissions and (usually) covers the buyers commissions as well so you shouldn't worry about those fees.The 10% vs 20% I feel like is a personal opinion.

If that person were to get hurt somehow and then expect you to pay the medical bills or become disgruntled in some way it is just a phone call to DOR, OSHA or L&I. 

Without any form of credible references this person may care less about you and are only interested in the sale, which would be your problem after.

Hi Esther, I personally as a property manager in Los Angeles have a process when it comes to tenants not paying rent.

If it was me personally, I would not.