Often times tenants have divorce, car accidents, loss of employment and health issues.One of the things landlords have to be careful about is tenants want to make their problems the landlords problem.First your want to let her know that you are truly sorry that she is having medical problems.If you are wanting to waive some of the rent is totally up to you, but you do need to remind her that she still has financial obligations and needs to see what arrangements she could do to have the rent paid right away.If you have any emergency contacts for her on file youu may want to check with them and see if they are able to help her.I would also recommend that you get a real estate attorney that is familiar with evictions and consult with the attorney.

I suggest a good emergency fund or be able to liquidate enough funds to cover when you don't have the income.

I can then use this cash in case of an "emergency" such as a new A/C unit, renters don't pay, can't find a renter, they trash the place, etc.The last things I want to do are borrow money from friends and family, rack up credit card debt, or hastily sell the house.Thanks for the advice.

It sounds like my goals in the short term will be as follows:1) Small (but growing) emergency fund2) 401k full match3) Max out roth IRABeyond that I will either contribute more to savings or 401k, depending on how everything starts to pan out.

I would buy 90% of the materials with a contractor (in my case, my superintendent) before the start of my project, to do this, go meet at your local supply house, have him pick everything that he thinks he needs, pay for it, then get a credit line backed with your credit card at the same time, he could use this to purchase emergency materials, or small material purchases.

I sleep better knowing that I am not going to get any emergency calls.

The majority landlord tenant relationships don't end this way, but if does, you're prepared.Let your tenants know how you handle emergencies.  

I took an emergency flight to view the property and the aftermath of what happened the next day.

The Idaho State Legislature was called to an emergency session to change the statutes or else the state's economy would grind to a halt.I eventually made Real Estate Finance my full-time profession.

I would first build a base savings of a few thousand for emergencies and seed money for investment.