Some of our tenants have compromised health, young children, assistance animals, or are gardeners who are growing organic food.  

Find a bank willing to do this, locate a private or hard money source and purchase the house, then refi into a regular mortgage.I have been purchasing rentals this way for the last 7 years. 

So say your eviction is scheduled for Monday and it is 14 degrees but Wednesday it gets to 20 degrees then they will do it WednesdaySee below:http://chicagoeviction.com/2013/12/december-evicti...In addition, the general order also provides that the Sheriff shall cease execution of eviction orders (1) whenever the outside temperature is 15 degrees Fahrenheit or colder on the actual day of the eviction or (2) whenever regardless of outside temperature, extreme weather conditions endanger the health and welfare of those to be evicted.

We actually organize regular meetups to learn about investing in the US property market.

Odesk makes it very easy to communicate regularly with the VA's and I've found that they have been very good at updating me with their progress and asking questions when needed. 

After spending money fixing up a property, I obviously want to make sure the tenants occupying it are not damaging or tearing anything up....whether accidentally or deliberately......or worse still, using my property as a front for some shady illegal activity    (take your pick on that one....the illegal activity that is).I also want to make sure I am on top of the stuff that will break down due to normal wear and tear and stuff that needs regular maintenance.I also want to make sure the tenants are doing their part in up keeping the property as necessary....mowing lawns, shoveling snow from sidewalks and generally maintaining a reasonably clean interior and exterior for their own good and mine.If and when the tenants do tear something up, or something breaks down due to no fault of their own, unless it adversely affects their daily routine, I would think that they most likely would not report it.

One woman around the corner on a different road lived at her place 25 years, and only moved due to health issues.

You need reserves to hold properties.Your area market vacancy is relevant to cash flow assumptions but not to reserves or holding costs.Consider these aspects;Tenant has a crack party and they get busted and the health department shuts you downFire damage, you don't get an insurance claim paid the next day, I never did.

I know they say otherwise, but having traded on an institutional level pretty regularly, that is not how it goes.  

Can I negotiate prices with real estate agents from a company like Coldwell Banker and how different are they from negotiating with regular homeowners?