Meanwhile, those that are criminals aren't being investigated or punished.

If they aren't able to reduce your taxes then they don't get paid.I assume they are selective about which appeals they will take on since there is no benefit to them or the homeowner to not be able to win an appeal, but I have no knowledge of their internal business logic. 

I love it for the guaranteed rent, tenant stability, additional accountability with the housing authority and large demand for Section 8 housing without enough supply.With strong screening, I'm able to find great tenants and Im not owed any rent.Cons you will often hear is that the tenants are harder on your properties (doesnt have to be the case in my experience if you screen really well), the Housing Authority is a pain to deal with (this depends on a couple things - how well run your local PHA is and how good you are at handling process & details) and the extra inspections/red tape make the niche unprofitable (see what I said above about Housing Authorities).Done right, I believe Section 8 is one of the most stable & profitable. 

However, houses in Mobile aren't particularly expensive so anyone that plans on staying in the area for a while tends to purchase a house instead of rent.

But you obviously aren’t literally paying.

But I’m wondering—do property managers who aren’t in the office regularly find value in these kinds of insights?

It’s unfortunate, but last-minute changes in DSCR loan terms, like the lower LTV and unexpected fees, aren't uncommon, especially if the broker wasn’t fully transparent from the start.

They sell it for 4x assessed value, and taxing authority uses your purchase price as new value.  

@Samuel Pavlovcik and @Prashanth Mahakali aren't there also some historical watermark records that Chicago keeps that may be of help in @Brie Schmidt situation...

Again, all I have to do is download my bill into a folder, and the rest is taken care of.I'm not a fan of paying utility bills because they eat into your cash flow, and the tenant may not be as "resourceful" with their usage if they aren't getting hit by it.