I am very glad that I did that, because we do all our screening through Appfolio, which uses Experian for credit checks, and we also report to Experian Rent Bureau, which records lease dates, owed balances, and also can help boost or drop a credit score based on the tenants payment history.

There's nothing like total immersion to become Baptized as a landlord IF you're willing to tackle the tasks at hand.Here's what you'll need to do in short order:Crash course on landlord/tenant laws in your stateSet up (separate) systems for marketing for target tenants, screening/vetting prospects, easy rent collection, bookkeeping, contractor/handyman management, etc.The three best educational resources I can offer:Fixer Jay Decima, of 'Tenants & Toilets' fame (lower-end), Mike Cantu for mid-range tenant management, and David Tilney for the higher end of the market.

There does not seem to be any properties in the 2% or the 50% rule to even screen them to move forward to due diligence.

In my eyes that's nearly 10%.So instead of cash flowing a comfy $500 I'd cashflow maybe 100, too risky for my blood.  

I am in a situation where I have a seller, who owns the property outright, is in his 60's and is semi-retired (works to keep the blood flowing).  

I would consider hiring a property manager, at minimum to advertise, screen and lease, unless you have prior experience.One advantage you have is that prices may soften going into the holiday season.

After losing a few months rent this way (I owned 8 properties at the time) I placed them in the hands of a bad property manager (I was no better at selecting property managers at that time than I was at screening tenants).

If you screen well the pets won't cause damage.

Of course, this is not completely apples to apples as you committed the down payment, but you can discount the monthly savings going out several years and compare that to your down payment and it would be far greater.This comes with a caveat that had you waited and screened more properties, you may have gotten a better deal in which the math made more sense.

When you type the @ then the start of a name, does a list of choices pop up at the bottom of the screen?