My next step after posting this is to reach out to a few similar hosts for the style of property I am looking to invest in and see how well they do on a personal level.

Everything I know and have read and learned says to pay off credit cards on time and to zero since that is the point of credit and how you show you are financially responsible.

You need to look at your market and look at what the comps with same style pool are getting in that market compares to those without.

Excited to connect with the community and learn some things! 

Feel" the true beat of the portfolio's income and expenses performance before using leverage to speed up the growth of your portfolio.Using cash only will protect your bottom line in scenario's like yours when the properties don't perform as expected as you won't be on the hook to cover the mortgage expenses.Just my bias opinion so take it with a grain of salt.I've also witnessed many finger pointing instances when others get involved.Like a new property manager, realtor, contractor, etc...I've had my share of bad experiences with realtors that threw my company under the bus and got in the investors ear to flog it at any price just so they can make a quick commission.It get's very messy, painful and pretty much turns into a disaster with the investor not knowing who to trust or what to do anymore.Similar to what you post about has happened to me and my company many times and if allowed the opportunity, we do our best to fix and come good.Some loose trust and faith and I 100% understand, but as soon as someone leaves the wing of my company there is not much that we can do because as I mentioned above, everyone else get's involved, has an opinion and the situation get's very messy.Having in-house property management is vital when such a "crisis" arises.I tried out-sourced PM when we first started and it was a disaster.We had no choice other than to bring it in-house.Hated my life for the first 5 years with in-house PM and fast forward 10 years, it has become our "golden goose" and a very well streamlined and beautiful business.From what I've seen and read on the forum and elsewhere it seems like RTR has a good reputation and what you have mentioned seems like a "worst case scenario".I hope RTR will assist you the best they can and all I can say is learn from the experience and don't give up.Do your best to weather the storm and focus on minutia.Don't have regrets and don't spend too much time dwelling on the past.Glimpse into the past to get guidance from what you could have done better and think ahead.Move forward smarter, more experienced and better.Wishing you well and much success with your future endeavors.

This is a lot to learn in the fire, but sometimes the best education comes through blood, sweat, and tears!

Thanks to the strict rules and procedures here on BP, we get to enjoy true learning information rather than sift through countless spam posts.

Lessons learned?

I have been taking Tracy Z courses and learning more about the note investing space. 

PS - Regarding bitcoin: Lots of people made a buncha’ money on crypto because they took the time to learn about it.