It is simply a matter of being very transparent in those situations and making sure you are approaching the seller as a buyer and not an agent.  

Going off of what Dawn said, long distance trust with a property manager is developed through full transparency.

There is no other real estate investing system in existence that is more transparent than ours.For the record, our franchise costs $15,000, not $50,000.We have research that shows that 97% of real estate investors that try to 'go it alone' fail.

Your transparency is appreciated.  

Being a gentleman is about being fair and transparent.

The judge will see your transparency and see through your tenant's retaliation.

It actually will cost me money (.50 cents per transaction for money coming in then .50 for money going out to my account) to have them payonline but it is so worth it for less hassle and transparency of when payments have been made/received etc.If there was someone who I thought was a great potential tenant who wanted to move in one of my properties and did not want to pay online....I'd probably rethink the surcharge policy, but have not run across that yet.The $99 they charge to set it up if utilized properly will pay for itself in less hassle and time wasted.  

My basic value adds are 1) You're actually going to understand just WTF you are getting into, 2) Often times I can put deals together that the overwhelming majority of persons in my profession can't, and 3) Transparency -- how many professional real estate investors have seen a raw rate sheet?

They decided not to be as transparent as you were with your experience.

Instead, they were open, upfront and transparent about it, choosing to take the route of asking permission.