My wife and I are considering taking on this role as a property management team, managing these properties from our current location in Washington state.Our plan is to establish a reliable network of local contacts in the area—such as maintenance professionals, agents, lawyers, etc.

Highly recommend trying to require the agent to provide you all the tenant qualifying info for you to review BEFORE you accept the property with tenants (potentially, nonperforming ones).

Quote from @Chinku Prasad: First, you can contact your insurance provider to see if they will cover the damages and then pursue compensation from the other party. 

I've done some but I didn't find info on this scenario.

The key is understanding the neighborhoods and building a reliable team on the ground, but if you're willing to do the homework, Detroit can be a great market for long-term investment.Feel free to reach out if you want more info on Detroit or need help deciding on an area!

Hey David, I recommend contacting an arborist first to come evaluate.

Am I allowed to contact their agency to notify them of this, or serve the 5 day notice to them at work in order to try and get them to pay?

Ian,With the limited of info known, the fees do seem slightly steep.

I'm not sure what all info you'd need to give relevant advice, so here's some random info about the property. - The seller has no interest in keeping the property (I guess that makes her a motivated seller?)

Duplex, ARV $100-$127k both units empty, one is ready to rent and the other needs about $15k rehabs rents at $1200 per unit, per our agents MLS info. 12190 Santa Rosa Drive, Detroit MI 48204.We’ve been trying to get a DSCR Loan but keep hearing the purchase amount is too low.