We got the guy out, he forfeited his 2K deposit, and I also got a judgement against him over $4600.

We struggled with two sets of bad tenants for about four years and ultimately made as many mistakes as we could possibly get our hands on.

Talking face to face is much more effective and there are not a lot of investors doing this as it can be a very cumbersome activity.As far as having a hard time finding PM's and GC's go... most of the bad PM's have been run off or put out of business, but many investors expect their PM's to do everything for free and don't want to spend any money in maintaining and protecting their properties and keeping their tenants happy.

Hey guys, I'm just starting out and have been doing a lot of research on strategies and ways to get started.  

sometimes...you want the first deal to go through badly and ignore certain warning. thanks guys. appreciate the honesty...back to square one...

@Percy N. my immediate thought as well...My banker (not my credit union - I have both, and there are good and bad for this) and I have discussed the HELOC and it's 5.5% with no additional cost/fees, etc...

How do you guys go about this, if you do at all?   

I have a great guy who specializes in working with real estate investors.

The first week he seemed to be doing a good job but after that it went downhill - the GC was never on site, he had 2 subs who worked long hours and were very nice guys but didn't seem to have the finesse or expertise required to do the job.

Thanks for the help guys.