Cash on cash or IRR calculations aside, big ticket maintenance items will eat years of cash flow overnight.You need to scale up somehow.

I’ll answer anyway, I’m not FF by any means but for me it was buying a plane ticket and spending a weekend in the market interviewing everyone who would meet with me and surveying the neighborhoods I was going to buy in.

If you don’t …..be prepared to receive several tickets for things you didn't know your tenants were supposed to (you really since you are the landlord) do.8.

Find out what service providers the “big guys” are using.For the big ticket services, I like to price compare a few common service issues BEFORE something happens.For example;Plumber: Replace a 50 gallon water heater (or whatever size you have) normal and after hour pricing, in case it goes out on a weekendSnake / clear a clogged toilet ( I have a photo album of all of the things our plumber has found in clogged drains over the years ) don’t judge!

Don't forget you can claim 1/2 the cost of meals since it sounds like you went somewhere overnight as well as the actual travel costs (Flight and hotel room)

Explain why, no one else pays your parking tickets, you should not have to pay theirs.

A personal loan seems like the ticket.

BS Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Academy but never used the degree professionally since I went straight to flight school.

I would not be overly concerned given the circumstances, although if I had two viable candidates the local one would get priority; less of a flight risk in my opinion.

You can get a ticket.2.