Landlording's a tough business and good guy landlords frequently get chewed up and spit out, especially by the characters I was dealing with.

With our first project, this duplex, we bit off more than we could chew.  

Then start chewing through "How to" guides until you've read them all.When you find you need a break from reading take a look at the podcasts.

I ended up buying two single family homes and they will chew up $170k of my cash.

Nice to see a fellow Israeli on board.Really no offense but IMHO you appear to be biting off far more than you can chew. 

What if I didnt want tenants to have pets -- how would I ever really know if they were following my guidelines until its to late and the baseboards are chewed up and the carpents are urinated on?

most likely as stated a bit of biting off a little more than you can chew for a first project..for me... if its a totally heaving gut job and such I would rather find a lot a build a new home.. at least I can control my cost somewhat  :)

To address Chris's question, I've been involved with many different type of construction so I'd be confident in my ability to build a house by myself, so biting off more than I can chew is really a non issue.

I didn't even consider that rodents might chew it.   

With everything he says I chew the meat and spit the bone.