I bet they will always pay on time.

I'd bet that states iron that out.

I heard an attorney claim that real estate was the most litigated area for liability, I bet that is a stretch tying slip and falls and medical claims to the real estate, Yes, all accidents happen on planet earth, doesn't mean the property owner was negligent.  

I bet Michel here would not be able to cite appropriate language prohibiting a licensed broker/agent to conduct open house on behalf of an owner that does not have a listing agreement with anybody else.

@Anthony Gayden I did not look but I bet SF and NY were number one and two.was not bad here until 4 or so years ago.. if you owned rentals here your smiling ear to earif your a renter your being forced to bunk up with room mates.

and here's to your father and Grandfather.. needle ball and alcohol    say that one to your grand dad I bet he gets a kick out of that. 

I bet most don't even physically verify licensing or insurance for jobs that actually require it. 

I bet this model would work there. 

My rationale is that I would rather own the property on paper vice outright, i.e. have the cash in safer alt. investments as you call it to pay off the loan, especially if the alt. inv. earns more than the cost of the loan.

Having sunk a sizable amount of money into them makes no difference ... that IMO was a mistake and is now sunk cost, but no use throwing good money after bad to try to hold assets that are not likely to perform well ... if you had a low tax basis, I'd say 1031, but you have a stepped up tax basis so you can just sell without worrying too much about taxes ... true, you will have some other transactional costs, which you should not ignore, but I'd bet it better to pay those and move that money into more productive assets that better suit your experience level and goals.