If it involves carrying out the hands-off buy-and-hold investing model largely espoused by this website, where you but a bunch of leveraged properites, hire a property manager to take your worries away, and slowly watch the returns accrue, well, that's the dream Clayton Morris sold and people with even minimal experience in C and D property classes understand it tends not to work so well down in the lower end of the rental spectrum.If you're talking about being the kind of landlord I am, well, you're going to be fixing a lot of stuff yourself, waiting for a lot of people to show up who don't, dealing personally with tenants who have real problems, and most definitely not living any sort of aspirational life most people would want.To just give you a taste of this life, right now, a local buddy of mine who is also in the business is in the hospital.

We had great tenants, but I got a taste of the lack of power a homeowner had in Ca, when it came to tenant law.

Even then, it must be tasteful, safe and temporary.

Plus, you want to get out of the miserable overpriced apartment you are renting now - why not get an asset partially paid by someone else, that you can remodel to your taste? 

I've been working for architecture firms for 11 years but now have tasted freedom by buying my first rental properties (3 now) and a parcel of land for my own development.  

Or tasteful... however.

If painting is a request, maybe offer that the tenants can paint walls only according to their taste but it must be painted back to the color it was or white, before move out.

Not to say there isn't potential there ... it just still feels a little too risky for my taste. 

The potential for problems is far too high for my taste.  

Everyone's tastes are different so you should try multiple systems at the same time so you can get a feel for which one works best for you.