Hi there,I own a handful of longterm rental properties in Chicago and have sat on an HOA Board for many years. After years and years of being frustrated by how tough it is to find honest, communicative contractors, I ...

Most current foreclosure starts today, do not end up going to saleWhile not an exact correlation, housing foreclosures vs foreclosures starts, the few foreclosures that complete under the present circumstances, makes it very slim pickings in the foreclosure space. 

If you made housing free the same bleeding hearts would be complaining about utilities.

I wasn't told anything about cherry picking talent.

I'm out West at the moment, but will probably be returning to Tokyo before too much longer.At the risk of being contrarian, after picking up a couple of investment properties in Japan (one Tokyo, one outskirts), I shifted to a strategy of only investing in the US. 

Utilities included.Fully rented.For sale off market.

I would encourage you to read this beginners guide from BiggerPockets, it's a good bit of information so pick and choose what you want to read or read it all.

My wife picked out an expensive Kohler for our master bath, Turns out she likes the Home Depot toilets better.

Utilize your resources on here and I'm sure you can come to a happy conclusion on wheather to self manage or hire a PM company.  

Make that rent payment out to you and pick up a roommate.