So obviously he's not to be trusted and has ruined a friendship as well as a potential business partnership.  

With that said, look at the actual $$$ you are pulling out (and ruining your nice cash flow numbers as you've observed).If you pull out 20% from a rent of 1500/month or 18,000/year, you have saved a whopping 3600...at the end of the year.  

Now I made mistake in my life, I get it, but I feel that REI can help me fix these mistakes, help me make a good cushion for my parents as they are getting older, and of course help me create a living situation for my future family as well where my past mistakes of student loans won't ruin my kids future or my significant others future. 

If you are prepared to educate yourself on what you can and can't do by law, possibly ruin your relationship, or get yourself in over your head, decline now and say to hire a professional.

It kinda ruins the whole podcast once you hear something like that.

Stainless can easily by permanently ruined by someone not used to it. 

If it's a lower-quality unit, I use the cheap plastic ones you'll find at WalMart because there's a really good chance they'll be ruined after 1-2 tenants.

That being said, to @Eliott Elias and @Andrew Garcia's point, I have seen poor management and buying too high ruin even the best properties potential.Let me know any way I can assist you with this goal!

People who have criminal background doesn’t mean they will break lease and sometimes people without criminal background may ruin your property.

What you definitely do NOT want to do is get into the habit of only keeping people around on your team that will always tell you only what you want to hear ... that is a sure fire road to financial ruin IMO.