Good high school districts like Sprayberry and Walton are demanding high values north of Atlanta and there is a ton of appreciating pockets in downtown that are yielding good returns.  

Some people may do autopay, but it only takes me 10 min to run through and pay the individual notes the day that the rent payments hit my account.  

I am also starting off with my dad and brother and believe the same as you, we can buy more properties and scale a lot faster together than individually.

By out of country investors do you mean expats investing in Germany or individuals not residing in U.S. but investing there?

At this point, with this tenant, it sounds like your only option is to send them, in writing, a demand to stop making "improvements" without written approval.

The water is not individually metered, so I'll have to pay that. 

I know there are self rental rules but having two other individuals with formal rental agreements would that change anything?

While it is possible to acquire one, you will need to be very aggressive as with low supply comes high demand.

I predict the market will turn within the next 2-3 years as soon as the supply and demand picture changes.

Bridgeton / Maryland Heights / Saint Ann.I'm hearing that studying where the residency rates are increasing along with understanding which businesses are establishing / expanding can be a great source of insight for understanding where the housing demand will be.Would love to catch you and some of the other local folks at a meetup sometime.