Unfortunately, in today's litigious world, the risk of using uninsured “spot labor” far outweighs any short-term time or financial benefit.

With that said, I want to mention that I hope people will consider the human factor here as well as the profit factor; with the human factor perhaps outweighing the profit factor.

That's more than I have ever coughed up without ownership, but the benefits appear to outweigh the risks.  

We looked at some potential rentals, but when we ran some numbers, we just felt the risks outweighed the rewards.So we are sticking closer to home in the Tri-Valley area to pursue rentals.  

The cost of damage, late payments, repairs, and evictions will far out weigh the cost of leaving the home on the market a little while longer until you get a quality tenant.

The cons outweigh the pros.

The income potential, to me, outweighed the other formulas for purchase price.

I have seen some disadvantages but I still think the good will outweigh the bad. 

@Chris LynchI've been an agent for 4-5 years now, and so far the benefit of being a part of franchise or existing brokerage far outweighs the benefits. 

Many times, the appreciation over the years will easily outweigh the cash flow realized on the cheap properties in less desirable locations, and be much easier to sell in the future, (and yes, you can bank on appreciation based on the historical data of an area).Most new investors may not know a lot about real estate, but they do know what they pay for rent, where things are in their local area, which neighborhoods or parts of the city are good areas without a lot of problems, etc.