@Dea Chu  land lording is not for everyone... and many don't realize that until they are sick of it and they come down with burnt out land lord syndrome... the symptoms can be very bad if your a very nervous type to begin with.However in CA were your talking about I suspect your tenant base is far better than the US tenant base especially those in lower value homes...

@Eddy Dumire maybe you just flip it and make a quick 10 to 20k and let someone else have the Joy of being a landlord in a ( as you describe crappy hood)  your wife is happy your happy you made money.. nothing says you got to keep these things... best of both worlds.there is a reason there is so many low end rentals to choose from.. burnt out landlord syndrome is very real in these areas.. people just get tired and finally give up.its that live well sleep well theory... plus you don't get shot or mugged

Risk / Reward    Tenant demographics / Tenant baselow end rentals like the 4 plex you mentioned are very tough.. your rents are very low.. not enough gross rent to carry 4 kitchens bathrooms etc. and the tenants basically are renting the cheapest thing in town.. so guess who your tenants are.... they tend to be transient/ lots of turn over/ lots of no pay/ lots of drama.. thats why a seller would dump those at those prices.. they are suffering from burnt out landlord syndrome 90% of the time.

It's called the "fat cat syndrome". 

And of course she could never sell them for what she paid for them.. so this investment is lost .. she can either cut and run now or try to salvage and think that changing PM will solve the problem but NO PM can be on scene 24/7 and its the luck of the draw simply stated.4 have worked 3 are trouble one is a disaster.. when you buy a home from someone in the mid west and I don't care where or who. the house prior to full rehab 90% of the time is going to look just like this home.. its failed landlord syndrome and the person selling it or losing it.. simply does not have the wherewithal to pay to rehab.. it... 

Then I pointed out that one of the families at our church has an adult child with Down’s Syndrome who is very precise on being on time.

@Victoria Crump there are a ton of forums already discussing this but I'll add my $0.02.Far too many people get "shiny object syndrome" and buy things just because everyone else has them.

Looming Disaster... boiling frog syndrom... that is the risk of failed B&H... way more risk, over time, than a failed flip.

As a byproduct of growing older you fall victim to the "I remember when syndrome".

The problem will be if too many try to get out at the same time, which will cause prices to drop.You are right, it is hard to validate the effect of BP as a variable, but no doubt it is a variable.burned out landlord syndrome has been around since I entered the space as a HML in 2001..