You are just some other voice over the phone.

Speak with people on the phone or in person so you can hear their tone of voice and ask them questions directly.

I just received a voice-mail from tenant that she is out of town, her husband is destroying property, police won't evict him since they are married.

Whenever I call for something, I recognize the name and voice of the person on the other line which is vastly different than large banks like Chase where you're just another number in the line.

Be careful to notice and then reject those negative voices that might bubble up from your childhood.

I read some academic research on this and the basic finding is that gift cards can be more motivational than cash, and the gift cards that are most motivational are ones with hedonic (pleasurable or fun) associations.

My one takeaway as an investor and househacker would be to not succumb to the voice in your head that keeps focusing on "what can go wrong" - sure, a bit of anxiety is helpful to keep you on top of your game, but too much and you'll always be looking for the bad in every situation. 

One method is to set up a Google Voice account (free) and set it to only accept messages.

Not saying you can't use OPM, but you have to decide if it's worth it in that scenario to bring in other voices/opinions on your deal if you can own the whole pie by getting a mortgage. 

@Carrie ReymentWe use google voice to get a local number, then we actually answer the calls and put them into a crm to organize.