Apparently, the tenant’s mentally ill son (who had been staying at the house illegally) trespassed into another neighbor’s property and they beat him up.

Sounds like entitled consumer mentality to me.  

His only concern was he wanted to get enough for his daughter schooling.

My 12 month old Grand daughter loves to climb the cable wire deck walls my son installed for looks. 

Thank you for the advice...making a mental note! 

No money and poor credit just requires some more creative thinking and a willingness to add some mental and physical sweat equity.

Rehab the place and get it up to market rent..... they wont qualify....so they are no longer candidates for this unti.I did forget to mention a few things 1) the wife of the couple is the daughter of one of my best friends 2) the husband of the couple is one of our handymen (but not very good at it)  3) they are m2m 4) My good friend would cover their rent if they ever were unable to pay it, so the rent is guaranteed.I did mention that they are ~10%, probably a little more, below market rent.I agree that the only reason to keep them is emotional. 

In terms of a negotiation, I just asked open ended questions directed towards the pain points so they would make a mental image of why they want to get rid of the property without me.

@Eric StugartHey Eric I am in kind of in the same position but own my house currently in south Jersey with my wife and daughter.

THE JOURNEY OF A PART-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTORI’m a day late but I left Thursday afternoon with my 8 year old daughter to visit friends in Seattle.