R&M also depends on the age, current condition of the property and the quality of tenants.  

Both of you are speaking of the same thing.

It speaks about a three day waiting rather than a 5-day waiting.

This works to your benefit as well.A majority of people I speak to want to get a non-exclusive agreement with me and it is very much a matter of if you can't commit to me, why would I commit to you? 

The people on the sidelines with cash in 2009 were able to buy quality assets for pennies on the dollar.

My thought process was this: we wanted to learn the business of REI from the ground up so to speak.

Hey Keith, Welcome to BP.There is obviously a lot of qualities that you need to consider first.

The problem with allowing this behavior is that you are training them on how to treat you and they may be likely to pull the same thing in the future cause as they may think that you are a pushover-   Now they may be long term tenants with a good history of payments and this may be a special situation that they need to get over and obviously that merits a case by case review - but generally speaking   you should start the eviction process as soon as  your state allows - it is always possible to cancel it if they pay and you choose to accept it - but at least you will let them know that non-payment is not an option that you will put up with.

Quality not quantity. 

I speak from experience.