That doesn't mean you're left behind it means you'll need a different strategy that than someone you started 1,3,5,10 years ago. 

(And I would tell you to not buy a property that doesn't cash flow unless you have significant resources behind you that could absorb anything that could come at you - like replacing a $5,000 AC one month followed by replacing a $1,000 hot water heater the next).   

She is a contractor and she didn't have to perform this cleaning so she doesn't get paid for work not performed. 

BP doesn't allow any form of marketing in the open forums, which includes your business or services.

They don't want the company to be potentially liable if an owner doesn't follow through with the inspections and repairs.After the GFC, we needed the capital investment or they would have had to tear down more houses than the thousands that they already have.

The law also doesn’t apply for abandon properties.

Not siding with the contractor, but as an investor you will have to learn to understand costs better and when it doesn't seem possible for the contractor to complete the work at the stated quote its best to walk away.

The license doesn't cost more, the service and quality does.And a note on that cost, in my experience hiring contractors, only a small percentage of the cost savings was due to finding the right guy who is willing to work for less.

That doesn't make sense to me and I would immediately require they start paying something or start process to evict before you are further in the hole. 

It doesn't matter here if utilities are included or not, stated rent is stated rent.