- without making them upset, packing their bags, and leaving me with a unit that will need scrubbed down, repainted, and many repairs to get the next tenant in there. 

If I have that cash in a bag, I would take the advice of a NNN lease or an automated an parking lot or garage.Both are easy cheesy if you get the right one.

And this doesn't take into account the small fry stuff that was going on over the internet - like the house purchased from HUD for about $750 which ultimately left some poor dupe holding the bag for about $47k.

If things go south, I'm holding the bag financially and they only have their time and effort invested.To be fair and honest with what I bring to the table - with my skill set and existing knowledge, I can't reasonably expect to take on a rehab by myself even locally so doing so from afar is obviously not possible.

@Jason Wolff Account Closed May happen as Jason alludes to but its very rare.. and with the reality of many inner city dead and dying towns its a real issue.. property is not worth what the tax's are owed so the properties just sit there and gather mold and dust and deteriorate..

Hi Nathan,Well, way back when I was in college, I did get my bachelor's in accounting and could've been a CPA (graduated in 98, just before they raised the CPA education req to 150 credits in WI and I think many other states) but soon decided public accounting work wasn't my bag and ended up after a long and winding journey in the RE investing biz, which I really enjoy, for the most part.

Sounds like a mixed bag of good & bad experience. 

The neighborhood is a mixed bag: mostly older homes with some in great shape and some like hers.

While there is no true definition, anything under 8 units is commonly with residential agents.  9-20 is mixed bag where you still see many with standard agents, but also more with "commercial brokers".  

Most are 40% when the dust settles.