We did it this way because the bank didn't want to lend to us at the time until we had 6 months of established ownership and rent. 

Establish a plan for handling that and you won't be caught off guard.

Keep in mind that doing this walk through should be a part of your Management Agreement, and that unless you are just establishing a relationship, your PM may feel you don't trust him/her.

I am thinking about establishing something in my rental contracts where we have to have the work order emailed to us any time between Mon-Fri 0900AM-5:00PM.

Get educated and establish your own criteria, pick the market that works for you, and then find people in that market through referrals from other actual investors.

Its Always best to remember the first rule of Investing, Gambling, and buying stocks.

I don't know Illinois laws, but in NC you can establish a rental referral agency that, for $20 maximum, allows a person or business to assist any person in locating residential rental property.

I haven't played with office 365 so if IT REALLY allows access to all of the devices YOU use within your business, and it is as smooth and effortless with easy to no setup time, then it may be worth it for you.I'm not as busy as some of the established investors, so just to have that off the plate for an easy $15/month may be worth it.

This is not new, some variations are used by non-profits as they first lease to a buyer to establish credit and later move the tenant to a purchase agreement with credits given for rents paid.

A "Deed of Trust" is a deed that conveys certain and specific powers to a trustee by agreement, it is not a Trust entity that is`established to manage or hold assets for the benefit of a beneficiary.