Screen the Agent2. 

Assumes decent area with good tenant screening. 

The company sounds bigger than it really is and my sales and margins have been flat for many years.

So is it kind of a % type deal or more a flat rate depending on how well the bird dog performs. 

If you screen properly, you find you don't have the high quality tenants looking to rent in these areas.

You can try to handle the renovation 1 unit at a time and move the existing good tenants to the new renovated units (always sign new leases and make sure to re-screen the tenant).You may be trying to over renovate the property for the area especially since you are at the top of the market on your current rents.

we tell them that we manage the properties, but i think over time they figure it out. anyway, we text them 99% of the time.i think they like that more than we do. we use google voice, so we have additional numbers we can call them from if they dont answer our google voice (if they screen calls).

(Probably worse because I've got court fees and likely repairs to make.)There are several upsides to all of this: (1) They are my worst tenants, once they are out my life will get a lot better (Pareto principal and 80/20 rule); (2) I'm learning the eviction process, so it's kind of fun for me (I'm a lawyer, so I'm probably enjoying it more than I should); and (3) I've taken yet another lesson in the school of hard knocks but it's unlikely I'll make this screening mistake again.The weird thing is that I'm not even really that mad about all this.

@Patrick L. it's just like anywhere else, screening tenants beforehand is the biggest factor.

Read up on renting, screening tenants, determining cash flow, etc.