Unfortunately, over the 11 months he has lived there, he has only managed to pay the rent on time once.

For example it is my understanding that Big Bear allows it but whoever is managing the property has to live within 1 hour of the property. 

Hello my name is Ernest KAKEU, I live in Midland.

Tenants should be paying the owner.Do you also live in the house?

You can't rent out a PO box and live there.And yea that sounds like a huge red flag to me. 

Thank you Eric.In addition to the rental properties, my wife and I have a paid off house, paid off car, and about $1.4m in retirement accounts, brokerages, and savings.We live in a HCOL area and our expenses are $9.5k per month even though we live pretty modestly.I set out initially to have real estate pay for at least some of my expenses in order to give me more freedom and financial security.Is your wife quitting too? 

We have a house in an opportunity zone in Texas that we bought in 2015, lived in for 3 years, and then made a rental in 2018.   

I know he lives in Hawaii now which I'm sure is a whole lot more expensive than Washington state. 

If you are comfortable living with roommates, a SFH househack could be the move for you.

We lived in a little apartment above the garage and rented out the main portion of the house.