He didn't return phone calls or text messages and it took me threatening to tow his nice expensive trailer to them impoundment place for hi man to call me back.

Someone who knows your business and who will be loyal due to the amount of work you provide, and can assist you with evictions as well as other matters (zoning, contracts, small claims suits, general advice, sending threatening letters to people you don't like, etc.).

You probably handled it the best way using a generator,, neighbors are nice with long extension cords.. we did a flip, and storm knocked power out, low area and basement sump was out because of power, and generator's were hard to get.. water was terrible,, and threatened the furnace,and water heater but we managed to hook up to neighbors generator for a couple hours a day to run the sump. power was out for 4 days and the rain just kept coming. yard was like a mud bath.

The seller is instead threatening to "not close" unless I sign a statement saying that the "work was completed to my satisfaction", which it has not been, so I am not willing to waive that right, as I estimate the outstanding loss to me to be ~$4,000.

Really the only time you would ever have an attorney involved in a vanilla SFR transaction is if it blew up and people are threatening others with litigation .. other wise we never ever speak to an attorney...

They threatened to cancel me unless i repair the roof on the garage and the overhead garage door, even though I'm not allowing use of the garage.As for section 8, in addition to having somewhat guarantees monthly rent, also means your apartment must pass a pretty rigorous inspection every year.

My "why" started out as running from the pain of other people controlling my life and threatening my future.

As a result my attorney threatened a lawsuit and got all the fines reimbursed as well as a written statement from the HOA that I could rent all my units w/o any interference from the HOA.  

Yes my money would buy more during a downturn but on the flip side if a downturn happens in a year or two I'd have missed out on a year or two of cashflow tax free income.Anyway, the thread is threatening to go off topic so I'd appreciate it if we can sort of stay on topic of how to buy buy and hold for cash flow in Phoenix now rather than whether or not real estate investment is a good idea or not. :) Jeff, I'm not sure it's possible to get houses 20% below market easily in Phoenix now.

On that last point, I had to threaten the seller's agent, my own agent and the seller himself as he was fraudulent when signing the "1031 Cooperation Agreement".