I, like you run my firs duplex with the same culture of focusing on customer service.

All was going well for a few months but I ran into an issue. 

I ran the numbers and it looks like our house would not cash flow (between $0 to -$300 /mo) as a rental, mostly due to the astronomical property tax and insurance rates.

I ran into this several times. 

I ran into this recent TurboTax article  that led me to believe it was possible: Second, you may have a net operating loss (NOL) if the Section 1231 loss is large enough to reduce your other income below zero.

The other issue I ran into is contractor took on other jobs during the day and did renovations at night - didn’t go over well with neighbors.

When you are willing to cover your mouth with a handkerchief and step over land mines to see if the layout works for a LTR you know you're a real estate investor 😁 lolI've seen it all and smelt it all.Just haven't found a dead person yet in a property heheFunny thing is, having travelled a lotSome cultures consider animalistic smells attractive.Even aphrodisiacs.Personally, I love me some niche perfumes and have always bought the heavy Middle Eastern Oud scents.Repulsive when first applied but give it a few minutes and it blends into the skin making it sweet, sour and woody lolMaybe cat piss after some time smelling it would also blend in with our olfactory senses like it does with the other cultures hehehehe 🙈   

There is something in American culture that makes us believe anything on TV or with a flashy enough veneer must be worthwhile.

I was excited at first, but when I ran some projections, it only very minimally helped in terms of quicker mortgage pay down.

Participation trophy culture runs rampant next to abject fragility as a guise to avoid responsibility and ownership.