Every time I was lenient on a late payment, efforts were made to get caught up, which is always better than vacancies or evictions.  

Sometime money, time and effort will make the decision for you.

Furthermore, if a tenant ever is not happy with you, (and this WILL happen if you are a landlord long enough) then the tenant can make an effort to waste your utilities, he could cost you thousands!

You can listen, empathize, try to work something out (ie cash for keys), but you absolutely MUST make your rent collections efforts systematized and aggressive.  

It was a huge effort to have to clear out all that nasty foam. 

I view it as just as much if not more effort (moving, qualifying, etc.) and the same principles at play as financing as a direct rental of a commercial property that doesn't factor in your credit, income and savings. 

Sure it's not technically legal, but in the current housing crisis the City isn't likely to start breaking down doors in an effort to remove units from the stock.

You must make every effort to contact them. 

The deals I was seeing weren't all that enticing.Direct marketing - could be the best option, but I haven't taken the plunge into this as of yetAny suggestions or opinions on where I should be focusing my efforts?

So while it is worth the effort, you'd have to consider the timing.