If you choose not to show up, he would almost certainly be awarded a judgement.Of course, you could choose not to pay the judgement, but then he can send it to a collections agency and your credit score will be trashed.I don't see a scenario here where you get through this cleanly.  

Sometimes maybe often times they aren't doing enough to track down the owner or owner's heirs and just collecting checks from the court.

The goal is to make money, collect profits, NOT collecting properties.  

Hi Shawn-Congratulations on starting out on your real estate investing career.You have a question about whether it is good to have your real estate license or not as an investor and you are leaning toward multifamily investing.I personally think having your real estate license is helpful as an investor.Having your real estate license allows you to work with other investors to help them build their portfolios which helps expand your network while being productive, you can research market value more effectively, find out about deals before they are listed, and of course it allows you to collect the commission on purchasing any listed property.To Your Success!

You reinforced my impression of the local market.

If you don't want the property any more a 1031 is probably your best bet, unless it's got a huge capital gains capture in which case you could just take your tax lumps and collect your funds. 

Most padsplit properties give me the opposite impression of what an airbnb properties give you.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

I didn't qualify for Collective Genius because I don't do a lot of volume.

And don't underestimate the power of a strong first impression – a well-maintained exterior with a fresh paint job is key.Just remember, even with the best upgrades, color choices matter.