But I have the tenant pay the broker fee & in my lease I ask them within 90 days if they want to stay for another year and give them 15 days to respond so I have 75 days to rent out the property to avoid vacancy.4.

First of all, a multi-year lease should be a hard "no" even if it was a perfect tenant.

Actually, a friend once mentioned a unit in Eugene that had to be re-leased after a nasty storm tore off part of the roof.. it’s gritty, hands-on stuff like that which rounds out your perspective.At the end of the day, you don’t need a flawless blueprint to get started.

The DSCR ratio is calculated by taking the rental amount (either from a lease or the 1007 page of an appraisal) divided by the new monthly PITI mortgage.

Most property managers will take their own photos for leasing.

No long term leases, ever. 

It's the one-year required management agreement at 10% that can get you (although you can re-up the following year at a discount if you pay the entire year at once).What you definitely need to avoid is leasing through them, should your property become vacant.

Also, can I stipulate in the lease that the tenant has to maintain the lawn and shovel the driveway and walkways, or am I required to pay a vendor?

The structure for this is a discounted sale, lease back, buy back.One of the partners is a qualified intermediary as well that understands the plumbing behind it to make it 1031 compliant.If you have any questions on that - feel free to give me a buzz.

Originally I was planning on buying a multi family in the area I live in, but after reviewing my lease, I’ve found that I really can’t break it and I have 8 months left on it.