Well this gives me hope for my examining skills because I thought the same things through the pictures about what needs to be done.

The numbers seem to make sense to me, but the unknown insurance increases and difficultly I'll have in eventually selling it gives me some nerves.  

If so, you can study the materials on your own and take the examination when you please without satisfying the hourly requirement.Sorry, I took an in person accelerated course in the winter months so I can't help you with online courses.

Like you said though, if they place a tenant with no rental history or who's guarantor family member has an unstable rental history, or if the required qualifications and investigations are sub-par, IE the PM didn't bother to investigate rental history beyond the applicant's current residence or didn't take into account that they just started a new job in a different industry making 3x what they previously did for the past 10 years - then those are reasons to be upset.But yet again, if a landlord has to take the time to deeply examine an applicant beyond the PM saying, "yes, the applicant meets our agreed-upon criteria and here is the backup", you are working with the wrong PM because that's a big part of what a PM does.

Here is my plan:I plan to sit for the Broker's exam in Illinois soon.

Nerves are fine, but really, at the end of the day, what could you possibly lose other than money?

This is a new endeavor for us, so the unknown is certainly nerve-wracking (more-so for my wife than me).

Yes, that really did happen.So if you have too many deadbeats, maybe you should re-examine your qualification standards and screen your tenants better. 

Brand new to REI and in the process of just acquiring knowledge before diving in anywhere.Since I live in the SF Bay market craziness, I'm looking into opportunities out of the area.I know Austin has been a hot market...

Planning on taking the next few months to soak up as much knowledge as I can before diving in.Looking for recommendations on markets that can cash-flow and aren't too sketchy so I can start learning how to run numbers and examine an area (just in view mode right now, but might as well be in an area that I can dive into when ready).Currently live in the SF bay area, so there's really not much local that works.