Keep in mind they are not fool proof.  

My buddies parents rented out a house to a guy that didn't pay the rent for 3 months and even broke a window. this got me to thinking is their a way to make it fool proof?

Not foolproof or anything, but at first glance I appear encumbered.Years back I established a very generic sounding S-corp as my personal PM co. 

It's not totally foolproof.

And while not perfect fool-proof (it doesn't prevent from being sued), it acts as a deterrent by minimizing the target and making it appealing.

It's foolproof.

Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of issues/problems/quirks that old houses have that new houses don't, and an old house can obviously have hidden problems and big repair/maintenance bills too--which is why thorough due diligence is fundamental to REI...but, the point is: a brand new house is not a foolproof solution to repairs/maintenance headaches (and in some cases, a brand new house can be a much bigger gamble than an older house).This is a particularly important lesson for inexperienced investors, who tend to be the most prone to "shiny object syndrome" (the tendency to let nice aesthetics distract from real, underlying issues).

It's not foolproof, but it significantly helps if someone else has worked with them type of thing.So let's cover the REAL rules to second or secondary homes with Fannie/Freddie:1.

If it was too easy and foolproof everyone would be doing it.

The foolproof way to determine quality of neighborhood is to look @ the residents.