Here's what alarmed me a little bit.

But they ran a business and believe me if someone was behind on rent they kept after them till they paid,, My dad always felt that tenant that didn't come to him first to ask for grace in being late with rent was like a thief.. but for those that said,, I'm trying to catch up if you could only work with me for a bit ..

Are you required to put up security cameras and an alarm system at every rental?

Opened it up, found a cracked joist. i was alarmed, but wrote it off to maybe a waterbed upstairs or heavy piece of furniture dropped. today, I find three more in the basement.

I guess I normally would not even look at a short sale but because of the alarming number on mortgage disasters right now, I have no doubt that lenders are overwhelmed.

We use it for our tenants to remind them about changing the filters, or checking the smoke alarm battery etc.With the outside services, you can also track who reads the emails.

Regarding fraud, ID thief, etc.

My personal prevention method for this issue is a Simply Safe alarm system in my empty properties with only one sensor, a motion detector. 

I think that perhaps a mini checklist made up of what you have said might be in order, so that I can tick off the points you've raised for any future properties I look at.I did do a lot of research, but it's clear now that it still wasn't enough.Malhar, both what you and Jon said about the low cost of getting ready for rent should have rung lots of alarm bells.In future, a personal inspection followed by quotes by a few quotes for comparison will be the way to go.Kevin, I tried to do some research, but clearly the situation in Detroit is more complicated, as you as a local have stated.Would appreciate your ideas on what the situation is on the ground.Mark, wow ........

Trudy -Another option is an alarm system.