Ask them what they do in their spare time (if they have any).

Offer a discount of half off on next to the last months rent if they pay on time every time, (you should of already collected first last and security) and you can do a walk thru of house and yard ( this gives a powerful incentive for them to be good renters and make the landlord experience more enjoyable)Put vinyl flooring in as it is waterproof, ( unless you really like tile, then do the same type of tile in all rentals and always keep a spare box on hand.Paint all rentals the same color, so you always know what paint color to use.If water heater is more than 2 yrs old then just go ahead and replace with a new one, sell the old one on Craigslist and you don't get the 2 am call that water heater is floodingAfter rent is collected in dec, then hand them a card with 50.00 inside(if they have been great tenants)And I would have to say one of the best landlord hacks I know is to really care about the tenants and treat them with respect, and you will be much more likely to receive it back

LOL.. or I guess we can just bury it in sand as we will have to fill and compact to build on top of it anyway.. that's the strangest one I have seen

Meanwhile, they're eating out 3 nights a week, drive a brand new leased car, and live in the nicest apartments in the trendy part of town with a spare bedroom.  

I bet that on this single thread I will be spared at least 4 months of trial and error learning.

She had her share of problems with that house, including appliances going, leaks, snow (yup, the snow was my fault, too, lol) but also did a ton of work in her spare time.

If you need some of the laminate floor gets damaged, you can just patch in a few pieces because you have spares rather than rip out the entire floor and redo it to match or create a quilt of flooring that doesn't match.And yes, should be done ASAP in escrow so you are ready to hit the ground running with reno day 1 after closing ... time is money, even if you are moving into one unit to DIY.

If you don't want the possibility of ever having to directly manage something, then yeah, rentals might not be for you.However I want to ask you, if you have a few extra hours to spare a month for dealing with rentals, what scenario is better?

If you take it in to be serviced at an mom and pop appliance repair center you will be out of about $75 and will have a spare stove.

In your spare time if you try hard enough you can find a builder mistake, warehouse display, store display or flat out used kitchen. you would be shocked as to what a well off person throws in the dumpster cause the wife wants a new kitchen.