it is very difficult - much more difficult than advertised, and more difficult now than it was a few years ago because of the increase in interest rates and the heightened competition for distressed deals.the issue is this: you're up against other investors and businesses spending tens and sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars a month on marketing. 

It is difficult doing this from a distance. 

I know that everyone makes them out to be these great and easy properties to manage but they are extremely difficult.

It is so difficult to police and enforce guests, I would focus on the increased water bill. 

ThanksXiang - Estimating the ARV before purchase can be difficult.

It's very very difficult for a PM to manage a listing and do what they need to do without owning the listing.

CA is a very difficult state to be a landlord in and there is a high likelihood that the PM was doing there best to save you from the headache of CA laws. 

We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. 

The tenant is paying their portion of the rent (the majority is coming from city) but the tenant has been difficult to deal with and I'd like to find an new tenant once their lease is up.

This put me at a difficult position having to explain the difference between cancellation and alteration request, and why alteration request is not in line with cancellation policy.