Used PSI last year, they did a bad job, the snow wasn't even bad last year and with several attempts asking them to do better within the terms of the contract, they still sucked. 

I would purchase a duplex (or even better, purchase a SFH with as many bedrooms as you can afford and rent by the room), and then slowly improve the property. 

That's not even the tip of the iceberg; it's so far away.

Even if these relationships don't go anywhere, you'll get a lot from just having a couple of calls.Next I would try to find some local investment groups/communities and try to chat with as many investors as you can to get an idea how other's started out in your market.

Each BR even has its own mailbox and key. 

<g> If she is very determined not to have the central heat on she can turn off the service switch at the unit or even turn off the circuit breaker to it.

Also, Since my buy box is pretty narrow, even though I’m pretty good at doing the title research myself, I’ll still pull a title report for each one.

I just finished The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner, and it made me even more excited and determined about getting into this business.

If I had to pay my cleaners on top of the loss income it would impact even more as my cleaning fees range from $100 to $400 depending on the property.  

The new property has to make $50k plus $12k/yr more than the existing property just to break even.