It also is helpful to have a California LLC in case you ever sell that property and move into another state so that you do not need to form a new LLC altogether with new operating agreement, just re-register in the new state as a new foreign LLC.

Disclosure:  I'm a partner in a TK company...You may also want to consider a reputable turnkey company, and skip the realtor's commissions altogether. 

Sure enough it was nowhere near a break even situation, I had negative cash flow for 6 months until they stopped paying altogether.

The IRS will never challenge this deduction, because 1098s match - and that's the end of the IRS curiosity.However, whether or not you can legally take these deductions is a different issue altogether.

It has a 3 acre yard but sits on 24 acres altogether.

I highly recommend bypassing the LTR route altogether unless you invest in multi family.

Were new tenants found or did you leave the business altogether?

The PITA is what is stopping me altogether, even though I'll be able to recover my entire investment. 

If you really want to avoid these calls altogether, you should title your properties in an LLC that is owned by another LLC, which is owned by the original LLC, with an attorney’s office listed as the registered agent ;) Good luck!

In lower income neighborhoods you don't charge for service calls, or they will stop calling them in altogether.