Local laws vary wildly- here in Phoenix, my lawyer tells me he can have someone out on the 17th if they don't pay on the first (and I follow up promptly)... 4.)

I left a message for them both stating that they are still considered tenants and owe rent for Sept. as we did not get a formal 30 day move-out notice (I am taking a wild guess but I don’t expect that their check is in the mail), and that if they call back with their situation return the keys and move out ASAP we may be able to work out a deal, pro-rate or something, but either way we need to know the situation.Any suggestions as to how I can legally get them out ASAP without going through evection or way to safely clean up the place without having the liability of touching any of their remaining items?

Many markets don't support wild swings in property values and the "appreciation" that goes with this valuation pattern.

You can go hog wild on upgrades when/if you sell the property.If you keep it clean & keep it fresh (paint/repairs), you will find a renter.Most important thing is to screen them.

I may be able to rent ready to low income tenants for something like $15k (wild guess) with most of that going towards one side of the duplex needing more costly repairs to meet FHA guidelines.

Foam on the underside of the decking would be the best solution from an r-value standpoint, but it's wildly expensive.

A bunch of other areas in the country did not have these wild swings in value.

I was a little busy being amused at the idea that for this thread, Bleeding Heart Bill has suddenly become AR-toting Wild Bill...but reluctantly so and doesn't know where to get magazines for his rifle and doesn't know how the thing works.

Now I've heard one guru claim you could count time spent watching "Girls Gone Wild" or "Jerry Springer" because it was teaching you about bad tenants.

Until they catch fire.Lots of folks here right now are having problems even getting to their houses, so many roads were washed out by the torrential flooding.In many mountainous locations there are wild animals.