You get the tax benefits of the mortgage interest and should be able to easily beat the 5% or so mortgage interest rate you'll be charged. 3.

When the homeowner starts falling behind on his mortgage repayments, the bank charge them hefty penalties which over time add up and can erase any equity the owner has in the house.Unless you talk to the owner or the bank who holds the note, I don't think you can precisely know how they owner owes when they are  not current on their mortgage.

The units are not metered separately, and all are charged utilities via an equal split averaged out over the past year's usage with a 50% markup.

Appraisal from 6 years ago means little to nothing today.The area could have changed greatly since then and certainly construction materials,labor costs, along with legal fees charged.

All brokers charge fees, anywhere from $175 on up per transaction.

So far, it has not happened.What I have done, that I have found has GREAT returns, is to send $100 gift cards to Outback at holiday season for my tenants that have paid on time all year.  

If I do get a ticket, how do I handle that regarding charging the tenants? 

You will be charged points and other expenses.

They’re also charging me $3k per property in closing costs.

Bottom line, the larger the security deposit, the larger the fine to the landlord.A couple of Chicago-area landlords chimed in to add that they don't collect security deposits at all -- that they charge extra fees or do something else to eliminate the collection of a security deposit .