Not sure how often this ever gets brought up but its a random law in the city. 

In fact I have less confidence that a random property manager will fill my property with a good tenant than me doing so myself. 

It's also a good idea to randomly call to see how responsive they are on a regular basis not when they are trying to get your business. 

So, I think how you handled it was fine, but keep in mind you are a neighbor and if a random neighbor asked you that you MIGHT help them out if you were BFFs or you might respond as you did it if you weren't as friendly.

don't buy a random rental and set yourself back just to have bought.

Random question.. 

i used to live in the DC area and still own a property in Arlington.i know the numbers on paper look great in a place like Huntsville, but we see a lot of folks in the forums in markets like DC or CA, who buy a random property in AL or OH or KS, and then immediately struggle because they didn't vet it properly, or didn't realize it wasn't in as great a neighborhood as they thought, or even buy an OK property, but then make $32.50 a month in 'cash flow,' and are disappointed in their return.so, i know you asked about huntsville, but i'd encourage you to think about picking a suburb or exurb of DC and really invest some time in it - maybe hagerstown or fredericksburg or winchester, or any place you're interested in within 2 hours with a lower price point than DC.

What's more appealing to a random country?

. - if the office is randomly closed when you stop by during business hours its not a good sign. 

I actually had to get enough units where I could offer tenants multiple housing options when I purchased properties rented at way under market rates and then (an embarassing number of times) personally watch tenants that would "suffer" from a rent increase turn down smaller (but nicer places) or  nicer places in a less prestigious zip code (sometimes only minutes away) before I realized that I was hampering my ability to earn a living in order to subsidize the lifestyle choices made by a some random stranger that happened to live in a property I bought.