@Davartay Miller Thank you for those great points, I will be sure to add that small detail on writing down how the company made me feel alongside what they have to offer.

We typically like for the owner of the property management company to invest in our properties alongside us to have some skin in the game, however, it is not necessary.

TopicOne major tool used to create success is creating connections alongside using communication to contact others that have thrived in a position where you want to be in.

Also you will save money by "depreciating" half of the duplex, that's indirect money, but it saves you in taxes paid every year.Also, if you have the cash, try to leverage it and either flip smart alongside few buddies that know the game, though note flipping activity has slowed down across nation as inventory amount decreased and price increased.

The trustee presence, if they are indeed present, might make for an smoother deal but no deal is without its hiccups.

I purchased my first property about 20 years ago along side my then girl friend who has since become my wife.

Apparently there was a 'hiccup' with the gas the other day, and my tenants needed to relight the stove, fireplace, and hot water heater.

I would argue that if you are doing this as an endeavor and do not have the full support of your family, and structure your life around the endeavor so that the family is taken care of equally along side the business, then you will struggle. 

My cousin is a real estate agent in LA and he is considering buying a triplex or quadplex to rent to ASU students and I'm thinking about investing alongside him.

or whatever - the two sides of the coin should be merged , obviously "how many units" you want in xyz years is part of the business plan but when your weighing the costs to your personal life having the "reason" tied up right along side it is going to be golden for getting you through , so as an example - say you're coming up on the deadline in 6 months and you're 20% short - well if the focus was just on # of units you could just make some excuses and continue on as you were but if you also had, in writing the commitment to yourself that you needed those units to fund your kids college or something it puts that extra fire under you to take a closer look at whatever budget you've made and how much youre sticking to it - or hustle some overtime and start networking one more night a week or whatever.Sorry if that was a little ranty :)