I would also include the inspection (that's huge to make sure they know you're serious about no damage to the property, beyond normal wear and tear).I put together a high level checklist on how to manage your property.

It involves adding piers in the middle of the house and jacking up the old foundation to make it level.

ER Physician sounds like I would only want to connect on a professional level thru your real estate! 

January 2016 Houston Housing StatsHouston Real Estate Highlights in January Single-family home sales declined 2.1 percent compared to January, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline;Total property sales were unchanged at 4,965 units;Total dollar volume was statistically flat at $1.2 billion;At 262,663, the single-family home average price reached its highest level ever for a January;At $200,000, the single-family home median price also achieved a January high;Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.3-months supply versus 2.5 months a year earlier;Townhomes/condominium sales rose 15.6 percent with the average price unchanged at $183,076 and the median price up 2.4 percent to $140,000;Leases of single-family homes rose 2.8 percent with rents up 4.2 percent at $1,742;Leases of townhomes/condominiums climbed 12.2 percent with rents up fractionally to $1,568.

Currently there is a building for sale ($60,000) on our main street, which on the lower level hosts one of the towns most popular bars and on the upper level has 2 apartments that need major renovation.

So I am substituting that for interacting on BP.I am an entry level investor.

When I approach the tenant upstairs about the issue, she says that she only does it to send the signal to the tenants downstairs to keep their noise level down. 

Lots of new MF has come/will come onto the market, causing rents to level off a bit.  

But entry level is flying

It has been continued confirmation that while the numbers can make sense and I can break the 2% rule, there would have to be a LOT of work to continue to meet and exceed the levels of expectations on any property that I like owning.