The moral of the story is: if your gut tells you your PM isn't doing his job, pay attention!

If the answer is NO - DON'T INVEST THEREFrom my experience and speaking with investors who have been in the game for a long time - their success comes down to: buying solid assests in solid areas, holding onto them for a good amount of time, taking care of them, and finding tenants who take care of their assets.

But this is the property that needs the most attention as far as making little price adjustments, top notch guest communications, great team on the ground, etc.Adding a theme to one or more rooms is a must.

Under the Fair Housing Ammendments Act of 1988, Emotional Support Animals are protected under the class of Disability.Whether the ESA is legitimate or not is a completely different question.But if they've been there for 5 years and they are a good tenant, then who cares?

I made this mistake when I was starting out - I got excited about the returns of a development deal - but I didn't pay attention to the fact that I needed to be a cash flow investor because I did not have a W2 income, nor did I have sufficient passive income yet.It is critical for investors to understand the relative importance of evaluating the sponsor, alignment of interests and the deal.  

It shows future guests that you’re being attentive and doing what’s needed to remediate the situation.

I bought it sight unseen as I viewed it as a small development project, did my due diligence up front and didn’t really care about the state of the house.There were 5 offers on the property to which I ended up knowing a few of the other bidders.

So be careful out there when you choose these people. 

I would recommend focusing on markets/sub markets that will provide a more consistent return so take your time and be careful in the areas you're investing in.Personally I prefer the middle/southern part of the country because the price points are much lower and the laws are landlord friendly.

Try to get a feel for the stability of the tenant's current situation and recent past.You will probably find a lower standard of care than you might apply to the property.