He 100% should pursue every penny he is owed.

I’m always pretty hesitate to give any one a hard no or tell them not to try something although I would be a bit concerned with having no savings for an emergency situation that will probably arise (EX I used every penny I had on the down payment and closing cost of my first rental and then two weeks later had to put a $4k hidden plumbing problem on a credit card).

Penny wise and pound foolish and all that.  

Some tenants will not use the AC at all and you won't pay one penny for AC electric.

As an aside last winter was so cold ALL the Ginger Ale cans we left in our operating refrigerator froze & burst & my (Lakehouse) neighbor who keeps the heat on low had his propane tank freeze regardless & that was a $1500 repair including basement copper lines that split.NOW if the property has a sump pump that's another problem.

I wrote a post several times about a Japanese girl friend (not girlfriend) who came to the U.S. without a penny, never had a job, never had a driver's license, purchased a co-op with $7,000 she saved from babysitting, re-financed the co-op, purchased a townhome, rented it to 10 college students, re-financed again and again, had 18 homes in 7 years and had a net worth of about $2.3 million.That is the shortest version of my long story.But, this Japanese girl and my family have something in common that most people don't have.

It was written by two extremely savvy investors and one of the top attorneys in the country in this space.I don't get anything for recommending it, but it can be found here...https://assets101.com/shop/solo-401k/It's $28 and worth ever penny.

I know where I'm at, if you accept even a penny, then you can't evict that month.

Also if your hot water heater is older or you still have galvanized plumbing still(not copper) tenants tend to take longer showers. 

They have too many rules, crappy parking when rehabbing, uppity neighbors who complain and report you to the HOA and every government agency, you get fined when a 2 inch weed gets on your sidewalk, you have neighbors who play thumping music and you can hear them snoring and making weird noises when you are trying to sleep and a lot more.Don''t spend one penny you don't have to spend and move on to another project.