The same tenant complains the other tenant is driving too fast.These 2 don't like each other.

sounds like an instate rivalry like College football there in the deep south.. 

You could have a few things driving the cost:-Location - if the house is more remote the contractor will have higher costs to get out there (gas, lodging, limited resources) or if you are using a local guy he might be higher because he knows there are fewer competitors -El Nino - the roofers we use are all busy because people are rushing to get work done before the rains hit.  

As the buyer, I'd do a little detective work and do a deep dive on the occupant.

They have strong deep rooted relationships at over a dozen different section 8 agencies accross Michigan.

If you want to know for yourself, pick one of those address and drive around the area so you can understand why. 

I'm kind of in your boat -- willing to jump in the deep end and do the work in order to earn financial freedom.

I'm eager to network with fellow investors both locally and beyond, and I'm ready to grow my real estate portfolio with the support of the BiggerPockets community.When I’m not delving into real estate, I work as a Cloud Engineer at Lockheed Martin, fully embracing my IT roots.

I was a little bit surprised, markets in Florida topped the list by a bit — I'd thought that, lower taxes aside, the huge insurance premiums would drive off would-be investors.Regardless, what makes sense for you is going to be specific to the type of investment strategy you're taking, but you could do much worse than looking at the cities mentioned above. 

There are other ways to do it - driving for dollars, snipe signs, mailers, etc.