How do fellow landlords handle this situation?

State's differ quite a bit not just with their laws but with how certain aspects of a sale are customarily handled.

Hey @Monish Anand - Long distance real estate investing can for sure be challenging, but also forces you to dial in your systems or fail!

What makes it tough in the beginning is your rental income is not established so you need to be able to handle the debt not using rental income. 

So if you want to handle the extra work, like cleaning, repairs and all of the calls and texts, then go for it.

Quote from @Scott Tennell: What creative financing strategies have you found to be the most effective in today's real estate market, especially in terms of working with sellers or investors in challenging conditions?

It’s frustrating to hear you had to step in and handle the process yourself while still being charged a full fee.

I look at every single item in the pro forma and imagine that it is complete BS, and see if I can challenge it.

So, while Section 8 can be a great program, there are a few challenges for both tenants and landlords to consider.

Would your rental income cover all of that, and if not would you have reserves on hand to handle that?