I got my bill for my house in Lake Oswego from Safeco which I had had for years and it was always around 2k to 2.3 k  i get the bill its 6k.. i call my agent and told him no way.. and he hunted around and found me something maybe 500 cheaper .. so I thought I have a aaa card I know they sell insurance and are reputable.. walk in there 1800 bucks done and I have full  basement ( which is rare on a new home in Oregon) and they gave me a much higher insurance amount if my sump pump fails.. bottom line shop.u

A former agent of mine was terrible at tests and failed twice.

If you fail to do so and the insurer's ability to defend you is adversely impacted, your coverage may be affected.

When problems happen, its okay to try and use a good reputable handyman BUT, if that fails you Must hire a local well known "expert" to prove you are doing all you can to repair the item. 3.

@William Hochstedler  were I saw this model fail miserably for LA based investors was even though they are full doc.. the cash reserves that are there at the beginning.. investors get this irrational sense of security that their rents are going to come in like clock work that the homes are going to stay rented that their home will be taken care of like they would.. and the reserves end up getting spent on other things in their lives.. thereby wildling down their reserves.YOu have a bad run... you need 5k to fix up and re rent... house is vacant for 3 month during the process... and if you don't have the funds your PM is noting going to front it for you.. and down the tube you go. that's what I witnessed.. these were not speculators  these were people that thought their 100 to 200 a month positive were a given and could never change.. and they were woefully under capitalized. 

If you pictured putting an aluminum extension ladder across the top, do you think it would fail? 

Not allocating cap ex and maintenance because an item is not expected to fail soon is simply providing a misleading return estimate.  10% maintenance/cap ex ($132) is less than half of reality and maybe less than 1/3 of reality.  

The tenants went to court, but the prop mgr failed to respond and failed to go to court.

Lastly, they feel paying for advice, consultations, or even paperwork isn't worth it - they see it as a waste of money - but fail to realize the paperwork is the only thing they get in return for their money at a closing.

It's as easy to fail or to run into problems in the "friendly" states as it is in the "unfriendly" states.