I explain rent increases several months in advance so there's no surprises.

Then there's no surprises, and if there is, unless it's material to the job - i.e. something that couldn't be predicted about the floors beforehand - it comes out of their profit. 

That's not to say you won't get surprises, you will, but generally I keep a reserve to handle these things when they occur.

I am surprised you can get that much more at market price.

What you submitted that I was surprised that we would be warned like you did.  

With regards to holding time for a rehab property, I would be conservative and expect at least 6 months of holding time in the event you run into any surprises.

I see it chanted ad nauseum about "soft landlords" on these forums "file on the 10th", "no exceptions", etc etc etc...That's not that question and I've ALREADY FILED.But I'm in a good area and screen hard, so this is the FIRST TIME I've actually had to file....Unfortunately this is one of the more "frugal" client landlords (and maybe not coincidentally my first)...I had to rent this townhome with stained carpets, broken fridge, damaged kitchen flooring and more.....Of the terrible prospects he had, he incidentally picked one with roommates/family members with bad credit and no rental historySo it's no surprise to me we're in this situation, but I find myself at ends arguing to save him time and money from the courts.

I'm closing on my first rental property in Memphis on Monday and was actually a bit surprised to find the tax rate higher than expected on it.My property is in the Midtown area and taxes are just shy of 2%.  

Rent is $2K+, and so far have gotten decent responses, but still working on finding the right renter.Someone emailed today asking if we accept Section 8, which sort of surprised me due to the price point of the house.  

Investors who do not consider these are in for a huge surprises when the big ticket repairs items hit the pocket or if you decide to move out of town and want to professionally manage the property......and poooooof......!