I wanted to get started in real estate investing and knew I could qualify for this home and convert the basement into a rental unit so it was the right house to start with.

Hello. i'm under contract to purchase a duplex which I will convert to an STR. 

If you get lucky, they will eventually care about fixing their credit and they will pay what the owe.

That seems fair because they probably balance out to somewhere around $30-$40 an hour, which is a good wage for cleaning.If they don't like that, convert to paying them an hourly rate based on your market and pay them for the time required.

Eventually you'll get a feel for good numbers and not-so-good ones.There are plenty of networking events to attend as well.

Alternatively, convert your first home into a short-term rental for higher cash flow if regulations allow.

After multiple attempts over the course of weeks we will eventually resort to changing the locks.

Eventually, it will come up.

We have it under contract $30-50/SF under recent single family comps, so worst case we convert it back at exit and still cash flow in the meantime as a rental.

When things get weird (and something will likely happen eventually), the lease agreement is always best to refer back to.