There could be taxes, liens, a first mortgage on the property… the property could also be occupied (or burned down) and if occupied you would have to go through a lengthy eviction process.

@James MelbyIf it were me and I had that burning desire to get into REI, I would use the strategy called house hacking.

Whatever you want but make sure to celebrate the wins along the way or you will burn yourself out.

This was something I thought that I was being friendly and personable as a landlord, but I still ended up getting burned for being nice Rereading this I feel like I sound a bit jaded, but it’s also better to rip off the band aid early on versus letting the bad stuff build up over time and hear things like “the other landlord was never like this” etc etc Best, Michael

I have been burned before because I didn't do that.

refinish it, it will completely cover the burn mark. 

Sooner or later you’re going to get burned by tenants who absolutely take advantage of the pro-tenant landlord laws in the State.

We lost his money on one, and while it didn't hurt the family dynamic, my wife and I hear about it from time to time (the latest being that he is still burning through his losses on his taxes, since he doesn't have enough passive income/gains to use the whole loss yet).Stories I have heard: there are families that have been completely decimated by going into business together, and there are families that have run successful multi-generational businesses. 

This process has lasted over the past eight months (the house burned down in April) and the insurance company that was processing the claim actually went out of business in August.  

Unfortunately you are going to mess up, waste a lot of people's time, and burn some bridges.