Feels like there's a soft agreement between this couple and the owner.I spoke with all other tenants privately and they seem to be very happy with the current non-property-manager.I like the idea of resident lawn care, but am concerned about legality of a resident property manager (I'm new to this and not ready for employees on a small triplex).

@Thorney Gibson your concerns are valid for "turnover, lead issues, lawsuits, court, utility court".

After my last trip I have to admit the concerns outweigh the benefits and I am going to sell the boat up here and use the money as down payment on another rental.  

As both @Dustin P. and @Doug McVinua have stated the communities around Chandler (Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek, San Tan, Tempe) are just as good from an investment perspective.There has been a lot of press concerning future job growth both in Tech and Manufacturing in the East Valley. 

That cost isn't really what one should concern them self with when looking at starting one for the purpose of owning their rental properties tho.

I’ve been a real estate agent and investor for over a decade and have only had this come up on a handful of occasions and prior till today no one has detailed out the rules to me  personally.These rules concern a fairly narrow set of circumstances that many investors will not encounter until it’s causing a problem, so no I don’t consider it common knowledge outside of lending circles.Not being able to sell a home for a profit for 90 days is from my perspective a fairly arbitrary guideline.  

You're allowed to do work for it yourself, as far as the IRS is concerned it's you. 

Maybe I will just have to spend a weekend in one of the cities.kson Wu  You basically summarized all of my concerns about the SGV into a few paragraphs. 

As a going concern I believe those assessments would be interited under California law.

I guess the seller's attorney thought it wouldn't hurt to ask me...I agree re: being concerned about the HOA's lack of responsiveness.