Had the investors used an agent who understood the ins and outs of medium term rentals, they would have avoided a very expensive lesson.When placed in great neighborhoods, medium term rentals are excellent investments.

@Lisa Doud while that was an excellent response, why are you responding 3 months late?

The above advice is excellent.  

He keeps our group on task and provides excellent feedback with our deals.

A lot of posts accumulated in this thread suggesting landlords should provide excellent "service" for their "customer," should issue rent credits for broken appliances and be worried about their "reputation." 

Make a simple excel sheet and compare your rent for the next 10 years using 3% escalation vs 5% and 10%.  

Tyler brought up some excellent points!

While independent (and I believe independence is crucial) I've been appointed with Penn Mutual for many years and they're excellent to work with!

I know there are plenty who excel in this niche asset type.

I'd wager most of this forum would be better off investing in equities then in real estate.