In 2023, US metros collectively grew by 2.6 percent in real GDP, contributing to 91.1 percent of the nation’s overall economic growth.

No way is this a scheme to keep EM for the seller..Anytime I have had EMD disputes it usually gets solved with a 50 50 split since I know what will happen.. what happens is exactly as you describe.. money is to small to realistically hire an attorney to collect..

You can find higher ROI (on paper) here and probably in other cities…but the probability of actually collecting rent significantly decreases.

Again I cannot collect rent to justify this cost/effort.  

Maintenance at at PM company or one of the big hedge owners like AH4R, leasing at apartment complex will teach you a lot about applications, fraud, leases, collections, evictions. 

The host can exert too much time to collect or they can choose to not collect and pay the expense.  

Honestly, I wish more consumers asked this because there are far too many agents who believe their job is simply to show homes, write contracts, and collect a commission.

Collect money, not properties….

They usually collect all docs upfront and then underwrite once the appraisal is completed.

Rental collection seems easy.