Hey @Rachel Pitts, that is a tough question.

I find it useful to have a couple people that will remove old flooring (carpet, vinyl, etc), clean out crawl spaces, repair insulation, lay down vapor barrier, haul off junk, remove fencing, paint decks, low skill landscaping, etc.The best method I've found is posting free stuff (used appliances, old fencing, and other stuff) on CL, then identifying the good character workers to do other work for $15 hour. 

All that said, property management is tough and I would absolutely read reviews. 

The simple answer is that in a tough market to find deals you need to look at more deals in order to get one.

MA is a tough state for evictions and you may need money for legal fees.  

As much as the CT market is tough, the NY market can be even tougher! 

Your workers get exposed to it, and they bring it home to their families on their clothes and shoes.

I own a couple and the cash flow is tough to beat.

It has been a great learning experience so far but has been tough since we both have wives and small children and are working on the house on nights and weekends. 

The value of a good tenant is sometimes worth putting up with certain, lets call them "quirks", but those conditions are pretty tough.