A tip is voluntary, so your tenant could agree up front, then refuse to pay.

We had to move fast and initially decided to sell it, the relator who was helping us somehow convinced us we should make it a rental property......... and let her be our tenant (insert face palm here) so since we had no real estate experience and we were already moved away, we agreed.

And you can definitely pay off your home faster if you focus on running all of your expenses through it and watch your expenses. 

I agreed to pay for the renovation with no interest credit cards.

You will pay them and everything will then fall apart.

It was like paying for multiple Master's degrees to get our "real world" experience.  

Learn about the Net Operating Income (NOI) and Capitalization Rate (Cap Rate)—these are essential to analyzing the potential profitability of a property.Return on Investment (ROI): There are different ways to calculate ROI in real estate, such as looking at your total return after a sale or assessing your rental income versus initial investment.

.-- Or, what we do is offer the free rent AFTER & ONLY if they pay their first 3 months of rent on time to earn it.4) Lower the rent 5% every 2-4 weeks until activity picks up.5) Understand this is the worst time of year to find tenants.-- Starts picking back up end of February when this tenant pool starts getting their income tax refunds and aren't broke anymore.6) Section 8: where is the property being advertised?

But that's without paying a PM.

This could save you money in the long run, but requires a bigger initial investment.To help you decide, consider these:What's your current budget?