@Ree Rolle I used to be like that s lot with strangers and I still kind of am.

He was able to utilize the internet to find vacant properties and distressed property owners with no ease, however, when it came to convincing a seller to sign a contract with him (a total stranger that the seller has never met in person) he found great struggle.

@Justin Pingston -  Is the other route renting to strangers? 

Adding $350k of value with only a $20k renovation sounds ludicrous to me, but stranger things have happened.

When I tell people I do this I often get the response "you let strangers in your house?!" 

You should not trust strangers, but that doesn't' mean all strangers are bad.

Could be coincidence but stranger things have happened and it's not like Utah is that big of a place.

If you borrow a tool from Home Depot and while using it some random stranger comes up and snaps a handle off of it, does Home Depot say "Oh darn, looks like we have to replace the handle at our cost"?

Everyone is different but I would 100% choose someone who shows that they care about my property over a large commercial property management company any day.I've met a lot of local property managers here in my area through meetups and I feel much more comfortable handing my property over to them (depending on their stats) than a stranger on a website.  

You talking this way to a forum of strangers is way worst than her talking to her own mom, and the fact that this has not occurred to you says a lot about how you two treat each other.