The best advice I'd ever recieved was done is better than perfect. 

A third late will be a triggering of a eviction and the tenant will be out.A tenant that pays late under no circumstances should ever be considered a "otherwise good tenant".Landlords that have tenants that pay late have not properly trained them and are responsible for the problem.

@Brian GarrettHave you ever completed a deal using either of those tactics?

Cracks on drywall can be indicative of larger issue, but not always. 

Lexington's a great market, but you could be sitting on the most expensive pile of dirt, ever.   

So you can start with a dup, or quad, or even a larger property - as long as you educate yourself first and take action!

You could likely find good ones by talking to some of the other larger investors in your area.

I'm not particular about staying in Durham as I plan to take as passive an approach as I can (to that end I've been listening to the Passive Real Estate Investing podcast, but Norada is US and I'm not looking to go to the US quite yet if ever).  

Also he would want to know if you ever owned or bought investment properties, or just heard on a crazy website or from a guru tht you need to make a bunch of ridicules low ball offers.

If it ever came down to choosing eviction or cash-for-keys I would evict so other property owners will know to avoid the clown.