There are some good PM's out there, I don't mean to disparage them all, some of them have commented on this thread and I bet even they would agree that they represent a small percentage of PM's while many of the rest are inept or crooks or inept crooks.For this reason, if I were to invest in RE remotely it would be in an REIT or a syndication because those are at least regulated by the SEC, unless I already knew a rock solid PM that I could trust like a brother. 

With the right timing you might get lucky and get a steal.

I snagged a property for a steal at $18,000 about five years ago and then another for $175,000 two years back.

Short version: lying, stealing, not showing up, not finishing work, making a mess and trying to charge me to clean it up. shoddy work. 

I agree that the 1% rule isn't foolproof (it may even be fool-friendly) and to Marcus' point looking at Capex and YoY rent increase and other factors is probably more important (not to mention the type of neighborhood, like, there could be a great "on paper" deal but if you look at the area and people are stealing AC units it might not be so good on your $paper$). 

People steal the wands, brushes, vacuum houses and anything not chained down.

The only difference being the tenants who do have Section 8 have guaranteed rent coming to you while the ones who don't are going to add the massive problem of constantly stealing money from you, which obviously adds the need for constant evictions to be added to that mix of loveliness.

Besides, who am I to steal your thunder?

In fact, when someone does steal something, its unlikely it will be known until the renter reports it (Unless the thief is really messy and doesn't close the door on his way out)You also need to check how much storage units are in the area already and see if there is even a demand.  

I've had tenants steal ALL the copper plumbing - through the walls.