I have been a home owner in Middlesex County since 2012, and I recently made the decision that I wanted to take control...

Usually its a 1 page basic contract just to get control of the property.)3: Someone will!

Even if you are inexperienced, self-managing allows a lot  more control and you the owner has the highest self interest to get the best tenants.  

And the Marketing reps get burnt when they don't really have control of the providers....

 :)For low $$ deals I suggest marketing for low equity nice home sellers then offer lease option or subject to to control the property.  

Also, does adding a second unit put it under rent control?  

Hi David, thank you for this it is an interesting read and there is lots of good food for thought.But for me I am not a fan of Syndication, (yet) and I do believe that the main reason for this is the lack of direct control I end up having.I have ventured into Partnerships over the years and with the exception of the one I have with my wife, none of them worked well for me, I understand this is more than likely a result of my approach to them, so I am confident that I can make it work, to me its a matter of finding the right place, and after a lot of conversations about Memphis I have decided this is not where I want my first Large Apartment purchase to be.I am now going to expand my search into Texas and possibly other surrounding states to see what can be found.

I understand such failure rates in training, I was an Air Traffic Controller (ATC) in the Army.

He taught me a few things that he said he learned at the time share gig;-Control the conversation-Make the person you are talking to make a decision, one way or another-Get reps in!

You won't.Why are you investing in a low-return area where laws control when and how much of your money you have access to?