I was at a doctor dinner years ago and a lawyer gave us a quick talk about the concept.You setup a trust.

I need to get up there and have dinner at Brett's Cafe again soon. 

The police think he is a nuisance, and he is truly proven to be the worst landlord.He has, during our tenancy:-showed the apartment over 20 times in 2 weeks, threatening via text message that it would "be in our best interest to let him show the apartment", coming at inconvenient times such as dinner time and sometimes trying to come with half hour notice, and when we said no once, this is when he told us it would be in our best interest to let him show the apartment and to "presume he would be showing the apartment daily"-had a repairman come over to install a new door and repair a porch inside the actual residence with NO PRIOR NOTICE (we came home to our poor dog scared out of her mind and tons of loud drilling and noise  (this was AFTER we gave 30 days notice, AFTER we had lived there 3 months already,  and AFTER told us it would be 50$ off our rent each month if the porch was deemed unfixable, which didnt happen instead he just never got around to making these repairs and installations because we never got it in writing)-Refused to communicate in writing, calling our request to communicate via text or email only "unacceptable

Just to show how states differ, in Texas we can use it for dinner, to pay our mortgage or even go on vacation. 

If anyone's interested in taking me under their wing I would love to grab drinks, coffee, lunch, dinner etc and see how we can help each other out.

If the former tenant has any proof of actually contacting the seller about the water intrusion, such as by email, take the tenant out to dinner and get all that proof asap, especially if the seller emailed the tenant back.  

I told them to grab dinner on me and then I'd send them instructions on how to clean coil and check a couple of other little things. 

Just keep learning the lingo of the business, get people to trust you more and more, and you will hear that POF roadblock less and less.For issue #2: I would start with your local REIA, the Chamber Of Commerce, the Rotary Club, charity dinners, seminars held by IRA custodians and anywhere that people hang out that do well and probably have money that they really don't know what to do with it.  

Feel free to join us, it is free (other than if you order dinner) and a good group of folks.If you do want to organize a separate get together, I would try to make it.

If your tenant is a slob and there is a messy kitchen its like ringing the roach dinner bell.