Those customers declined both offers and stayed in a STR where they could cook, do laundry and sleep in their own room for less money than the cash rate. 

You will be cash flow negative immediately and this area will not be appreciating very much anytime soon (an area that is in decline)"Her - "But they're paying down the principal, so I'm ok with it being cash flow negative because they're paying for it." - Strike 3Mind you, this is in Arizona where if you DO look, you can find decent properties. 

The reason for this is that the tenant pool has declined, as well as to provide a steady stream of income for the next 30 years without having to worry about tenants and toilets!

I would assume they are there for a reason, and not a good reason.I would politely decline to pay for it and say they are more than welcome to take the system with them when they leave.  

If population declines, the investment is bad.Immigrants are great for real estate investors.

I think this is similar to what you are doing and probably one small way to help change this culture decline that we started discussing at the beginning of this thread.

(and issues with the housing stock from flooding and abandonment) Gambling numbers continue to decline but  occupancy and f&b numbers are great.

https://www.har.com/content/newsroom/Houston Real Estate Highlights in July, 2023:-Single-family home sales were down 8.5 percent year-over-year, the 16th consecutive month of slowing sales volume, however there continued to be signs of overall improvement to the local housing market;-The 8.5 percent decline is the smallest since the market registered a 7.6 percent drop in June 2022;-Compared to July 2019, before the pandemic, sales were down 15.3 percent, and compared to July 2018, five years back, they were down 5.8 percent.

If you rely on recommendations from another member of your team, how do you operate when they decline to give you the contractor's info because they are too busy?

Higher risk, as it limits your exit strategy since your property value is declining and you likely owe more than it is worth.