On top of your regular duties.. these being SFR;'s they are spread over a wide area so you have travel time.So how is a manager going to turn over 10 to 20 houses a month.. bring on new business.. try to retain old business... and drive by and inspect 500 houses each month for tenant wear and tear.. and you can only see 99% of whats going on if you get inside.and of course to get inside you have to call tenant make appointment you don't just show up.So you can see that its darn near impossible for the PM to stay on top of each and every home. regardless of compensation..

(assuming I retain my job and can't touch my 401k, I am planning on borrowing from it for REI - I can borrow up to 50%)

Find the nastiest lawyer you can and retain him."

My guess is the value might be too low for the beneficiary to fork over a retainer or even just the court filing fee. 

Took over, didn't retain their positions, and the expenses magically went down to where they should have been.At the end of the day, I'm not even sure $822k would even be bankable.  

I should be paying you a retainer for life advice :)

Other than just selling, if one actually operates a buy&hold property, over time you learn how to retain tenants.Business 101:-  "It's easier to keep a customer than it is to get a new one".

The foundation and retaining walls make it very difficult.

(In light of the questionable global economy, possible interest rate increases, strong jobs report, election year, etc.)What types of properties/areas do people think are the safest and most likely to retain value in the case of a crash or market decline?  

Commercial banks will retain these notes on the books.