Do the stack method as I progress. 

We've let tenants paint before, letting them know we would use their security deposit to repaint the property to the original color at the end of their tenancy.

Given this much notice, the tenants would have to leave by 9/1.At closing we found out that these are brand new tenants, they had just moved in, and that there is no lease and no security deposit.

After graduating from ITT Tech i began working for a company installing home security and structured wiring in homes; that's where i was introduced and found a fascination for Real Estate and began watching HGTV.

My mortgage lender (not a bank) has used every property I’ve bought as income immediately following purchase when I send them the lease and proof of security deposit.

Hopefully there is not much other damage and you can deduct the water bill from their security deposit. 

Also, I have learned the hard way that you always need to collect a significant security deposit and it has to be the tenant's own money.

Other methods are combinations of Bypass Trusts, charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Lead Trusts, etc.

In terms of living on the income my real estate generates (I have a job but not a very secure or reliable income job), would I be better off staying with the properties paid off or looking for similar good deals and mortgaging them ?

@Kristopher Stovall what methods do you use to find these distreessed properties?