No right or wrong answer, personal preference.

@Andrew Steffens answer is the best way to handle payments from clients.

How do you typically handle unexpected costs or delays in your real estate projects?

Thank you for any comments, questions or personal experiences with this situation.Anita

@Cody L.I agree with the sentiment personally but I have made some serious funds(to me anyway) with clients where this functionality was needed because of some stodgy entity involved (bank, govt office etc) whose policy would only allow them to receive or send information in person, by snail mail, or by fax.  

Let me walk you through some general numbers on a property we recently handled in Tucson.We purchased the property for $225,000 right off the MLS, but at a significant discount.

I enjoyed that mine was a one man band, and it was smooth and efficient, handled by email and short hand dialogue and simple resolutions.My eviction filings, so far have been "light weight," mostly gets people motivated to pay and stay.I spoke to a couple of firms, but they make it sound much more complicated and ugly than it has been in my case, so they aren't resonating with me.

Don I have spoke at many of these events.. the one here in Oregon though I personally dont care for much.. they tend to bring in old retread type guys that are pitching systems that worked 25 years ago.. and I pretty much believe they are taking kick backs for the sales those guys are making..

We made the mistake of thinking the person who charged less was the better option, however in the long run we spent more.

Personally, for SF rentals, I boosted each property's liability coverage to $500K and then had a $2M umbrella policy.