The letter also stated that the current landlord should have begun collecting payments toward to the security deposit upon receipt of the letter they provided me, which they did not. 

If you have something like a finished basement or garage I could see adding one there but no need to take up space and make it look junky with one in each room.  

Another friend who invests heavily in Phoenix shared a story about her first deal there..she jumped too quickly into a duplex without adding a little cushion for those first-year capital improvements.

You’ve got a good list of cities already, but I’d definitely recommend adding Memphis, TN to your list for a few key reasons.First, Memphis is known for its affordable real estate.

So I added the double grounds.Sometimes you have to pick your battles.  

I also added one other habitat which I am very excited about, but have not started to implement yet...I would like to do it once a day, but I think I will start out with a once-a-week video journal entry!

One thing people haven't mentioned is look for your own ad on the key rental syndicated sites and see if it presents well. 

For added security, consider umbrella insurance alongside the LLC. 

John - I've recently added "virtual staging" to my rental photos.

Adding value and sweat equity to the homes we occupied was the only way we could afford the bigger properties we needed.