I want to avoid basing my finder's fee on the purchase price as that would punish me for buying low... 

The New York market is punishingly tough, and does very little to protect the interests of small >> medium sized landlords.

Give em a warning, and if they continue to pay late, then give them some sort of punishment, i.e. late fee.

@Martin Neal I have a late policy that punishes severely failure to notify and is extremely forgiving on minor lateness.

Emotional support animal protection is meant to protect a person with an emotional or mental disability, the law is not made to punish the landlord.

It makes me sick that we live in a world where this kind of behavior punishes the good guy.

So if all your tenants move out in winter and you can't find replacements, you're screwed.I'm sure most Landlords will adjust and they will generally do fine but this is an attempt to slowly steal away private property rights and treat the Landlord like a criminal, essentially punishing you before you've done anything wrong.I'm currently working with three investors that are selling all their properties in California and moving their investment money to Wyoming.

But based on how things are, they can punish you by not paying rent but you cannot punish them by not maintaining.

We must be gluttons for punishment :) Lessons Learned: Don't put all your eggs in one basket and be a lot stricter on the budget and timeline.Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

In other words, I trust a good partner to do they best they can in a punishing environment.