I noticed that the previous owner let them pay half the security deposit and the other half later, which is a red flag.

Quote from @Josh Otero: Hi BP community, I know you've got some crazy tenant stories and I want to hear it.I'll go first:1) I was managing a 5 story apartment building and a dog fell off the 4th floor balcony because of the owner not paying attention.

Less licensees paying into the pot means everyone's costs go up.

Pay attention to 99% of the posts on Bigger Pockets, most folks here have very little money.

It’s paid off, I would “like” to leave it that way & maximize the cash flow while paying down the heloc between the rental & other income.  

This site has been instrumental in getting me from 0 properties to where I am today. 

We can still choose how much to pay someone to operate it if necessary.

It isn't like this a condominium where assessments are paying for common parts of the building like the roof, etc.Prior to this, I didn't have much experience serving on an HOA board and have therefore relied on the management company for their opinion on certain decisions. 

Namely, that if a tenant (in this case accompanied by a whole family) ends up stop paying rent and I would be on the hook for both covering the mortgage and dealing with open ended legal costs and time.

Now if I pass that income as management fees to S-corp, I pay $3.5K (SE tax) + $800 (LLC fee) + $1700 (CPA + bookkeeping) = $6K in total.