If there is a valid reason such as a family emergency or something of that nature I try not to be a heartless land lord but the truth is late payments are almost always a result of laziness and lack of priorities.  

Curiously, there is a brand new emergency staircase leading all the way up to the third floor, which cost some serious money to put in.

You probably wouldn't have sufficient cash reserves to deal with a potential maintenance emergency.

Some people can get emergency assistance for help for like 1 month a year.

Teach your tenants to always  text you in case of any emergency and then just forward the text to the handyman.

He's going to have emergency surgery and may be off work for weeks or even months.

Things break, tenants turnover, people don't pay their bills but you still have to so make sure you have some cash in the bank for emergencies.

Is it also usual to be charged 10% of the monthly rental plus an administration & management fee initially and then a balance of $300 for any maintenance or emergency repairs.There is no indication of when the rent is passed on to the landlord, whether this is monthly, quarterly or annually I'm not sure.Any advice on your experience with PM's would be much appreciated as well as any recommendations for good PM companies in the Tampa area.

To me yonkers is a emerging market trying to catch up to white plains ny.

Where there any signs of an emerging market where you purchased your property?