With the appreciation you are actually gambling that the market won't take a turn for the worse.

But I see other seniors in my building with gambling problems (lots of Indian casinos around here), who smoke cigarettes and/or pot, who spend their money at the local bar, going out to eat, buying new clothes, etc.  

I'd leave it at that, unless you want to gamble regarding them taking you to court.If your contract says you provide a working fridge, then fixing it would be on you anyway.But, you can sure charge them for cleaning it - if you did everything else right.  

If I lived in another part of the country and I did the same thing started as an agent at 18 and a broker at 20 and the play was to stack cash flow rentals because appreciation is gambling etc.. that's what I probably would have done and would done.Keep in mind in the 50 60 70s and into the 80s people got started in real estate buying cheap land all over the country as an investmentit was not until about 2001 2002 that smart folks said hey CA real estate is sky hi lets start selling mid west rentals to CA people and other high priced markets.. that's how the turnkey industry or OOS investing industry started..

You do your best prior to move in to background check but there is always a bit of a gamble.

That's a lot of gambling if you ask me.Then lets think about their case.

The only down side to being older, in my opinion (other than physical limitations mentioned) is not wanting to gamble on having to start over by making mistakes due to ignorance of laws or a market or being taken advantage of by a bad PM. 

To not accept them is just a gamble on whether or not you think your applicants are not savvy enough to know they can sue you, and that is a gamble I would rather not take in a place like San Francisco.

https://store.nolo.com/products/every-landlords-tax-deduction-guide-dell.htmlIf you're looking for mental health, how about Buddhist monk (grew up in the UK with a white British accent) Ajahn Brahm. 

He did a law degree in the UK and he has a 'legal services' company in Florida.