That means paying all cash isn’t an option unless you plan to bring another $600k to the table. . 

With regards to your example about plaster vs. drywall most insurance policies no longer will pay for the plaster whether you have a public adjuster or not. 

Risks: rates go down and you have to pay a prepay of 2 or 3 %; you have to sell and pay the prepay; rents decline & you can't make the payment like any other type of loan; cost upfront a little more than conventional; need to find experienced broker licensed in the state where subject property sits; servicers are bulldogs. 

I am the type of person that is normally looking to save a money to increase my investing so the thought of paying someone to do my taxes when we could do them ourselves didn't make sense. 

I asked if there was anything else we could try, he got very angry and demanded I pay him in full.

After all, you have no evidence they agreed to pay rent or any of the other terms.

The tenant fails to pay their last month's rent and leaves the place needing new flooring and paint.

Imagine making millions of dollars over the course of your career and then having to pay 30-50% every year to uncle sam instead of compounding that cash over time.This is exactly what real estate professionals have learned to mitigate.To reduce their taxable income, they just buy a building every year, do a cost seg, and use depreciation to reduce their tax liability dramatically.Their personal wealth snowball grows much larger and much faster than their W2 counterparts who give most of their money back to the government each year.Following this strategy as a real estate professional is one of best ways to end up with a much larger net worth at the end of your career.

When someone wants to send you a referral privately, they are probably sending you a friend that pays them a referral fee.

Will it pay the full PITI plus Capex, management fees, maintenance etc?