Some of these groups have an online only presence where you can visit and interact in advance.Prime the PumpLet say you have selected the group but find that the meeting is two weeks away.

Hal hopefully you factored in extra reserve costs and rehab costs getting them out.It sounds like from your interaction with the tenant though it was an afterthought on your part.Sometimes you can get the voucher amount upped with the case worker but it sounds like you are way off in value.I might try that if the rehab looked substantial.How long has the section 8 tenant lived there??

Ok, now that you have taken your initial step, below are some quick links to get engaged.http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere http://www.biggerpockets.com/ubg http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet Setting up Keyword Alerts How to Use @Mentions on BiggerPockets 25 Tips for Real Estate SuccessREI can be very daunting, but, before you go searching for that 1st buy, please take a few minutes to bone up on the tips in link below.http://www.realestate.com/advice/buying-your-first-investment-property/ However, this site thrives on interactions and as such we encourage two way exchanges and look forward to educational and thought provoking ideas relevant to REI.

Beyond the legal protections that this structure offers, it makes interactions with tenants so much simpler.

Seriously--you can tell a lot by how any dog interacts with their owner and you--a stranger...

As a first time landlord, you need to understand the federal, state, and city-level laws governing landlord/tenant interactions in your area.

I have a partnership, where I manage the online customer interaction. 

For most investors with a rental home that has a mortgage, you are reducing enough fee interactions that the payback will come in just a few years. 

In theory, they'd have to sue both the property manager and include your LLC (or yourself personally) to involve you, but may only be able to sue the property manager since you never had any interaction with the said contractor (especially if the contractor was paid ONLY by the property manager, NOT the LLC/owner).  

As someone said earlier, screen the person for the standard metrics and evaluate their character on your interactions with them.