With rental houses people want a decent roof over there head and don't worry to much what it looks likes because at the end of the day they don't own it.

Standard depreciation is where you depreciate the value of the house (minus an estimated value of the land) over 27.5 years.Accelerated depreciation is where you break up the key components of the house (i.e. roof, floors, windows, hvac, etc) and depreciate them over the IRS' acceptable lifespans of each one.  

The department I work for will strip the home of roofing and certain other fixtures and arrange a dumpster to be hauled off as a way to decrease unnecessary smoke products. 

Like the others have mentioned, one problem with being an absentee landlord is showings and moving tenants in and out.Other aspects like marketing, tenant screening and rent collection can be done pretty effectively remotely.The properties I own near me I manage.  

He can do everything from dry wall to roofing, cabinetry, painting,... virtually anything except I don't want him doing electrical or plumbing until he gets licensed by a technical college for that.

It doesn't account for a lot of expenses you will encounter.Imagine how much you could make if you never had to put a roof on the place, paint, put new carpet, new appliances, etc.

It fixes a bad deal, a leaking roof and foundation repairs you did not really account for, it fixes bad tenants and it allows you to out-spend your competition in a compatitive market instead of outsmarting them.

Sold fully furnished, air conditioned, living room, lounge, separate dining, 3 large bedroom, 2 full bath, balconies, solarium on roof top and satellite TV dish.

Some how to pay the mortgage if you have large repairs (roof, AC, furnace) or extended vacancies.  

I know 5-7 years ago the HOA paid to patch the roof because there were some leaks, but I don't know if this is related.