In hindsight, we could have probably gotten creative and made it work but I had just rebuilt my credit from a bad situation and didn't feel I could afford to destroy it again.

I recently had a tenant move out and found that her second dog -- not the dog listed on the lease -- had destroyed the back door frame, damaged several interior doors and frames and chewed up some of the baseboard.

If I didn't have that wide a margin of safety with my overly conservative LTV, some of the mistakes I've made in the first few years starting out would have destroyed any chance my firm can survive for the last 7 years.

What if there's a leak in the bathroom and the floor is destroyed?

The lot without a building had one, but a fire destroyed that structure, and it has since been torn down.

I'd look to buy near a "hub"" hospitals with 3,000 plus jobs or colleges, like SAGU in waxahachie, community college in lancaster, near UTA in arlington, near UNT/TWU in denton. pros: easily managed, easily bought and sold, less risk in getting a less destroyed property, accurately know the costs of minor renovationscons: lower (more unpredictable) rental demand for a shared room, longer commutes (higher cost) from outskirts, less privacy. 

If you don't, the jv can destroy your relationships.

Poor craftsmanship, deferred maintenance and poor management can destroy your return and your confidence as an investor.The TK company could have easily made some human errors on this, but the list of issues stacks up to look less and less like human error and more like a poorly run company.  

what has worked for me is reaching out to all ads that are for rent and asking them if they would entertain selling "before another tenant comes in and destroyed the unit".

HOA fees destroy deals.The numbers as I see them (I made them all up, but they are reasonable for the area):Taxes $66.67 Sewer and Water $- Trash $- Heat/Utilities $- HOA/Legal $250.00 (stabs your right in the checkbook)Cap Ex and Ops $75.00 Insurance $65.00 Mgmt Fee $77.50 Vacancy $62.78 Total Expenses $596.94Total Revenue $775.00 Cashflow/month $178.06Cash on Cash Return 15.05%