Buy some snap traps, bait them and put them in areas inaccessible to children/pets. 

You're falling into the same trap that Trump makes on his twitter rampages. 

And they don't want to take the time and effort to learn the basics of a market and build the proper relationships it takes to invest from afar.I fell into the trap a couple years ago...went the turnkey route...was tempted by the "amazing" and quick returns on a $37,000 property....got burned.But, I'm trying to grow, improve, learn more.

Cockroaches brought in, insects and rats found by others. 

Don't fall into the wholesaling trap!!! 

I've laid store bought traps through the kitchen area, but we're in need of a long term resolution.

I also fell for the guru traps! 

I'm working on one right now that had a huge spray painted sign in it that said "Trap House", the bums living in it before I bought it named it for me lol.

I've been prowling for deals and stumbled upon a housing auction website. I found a couple of enticing auctions, in particular a duplex and a sfh, both of which are (according to the website) occupied.Both are incredi...

We are often able to keep turn over costs in the $500 -$1000 range and that is for larger 2500 sf + single family homes, some of which have two story great rooms.My PM fees vary based on how many units an owner is giving me, and where the property is located etc, but are more than what you're paying but I probably include a lot more services.I offer performance guarantees, but there is no way I would have a Management Agreement that just allowed an owner to walk - they would owe me the remainder term fees if that happened.There is no way I would as an investor, pay tenant utilities at all - if the utilities were not separately metered, I would first determine if I could legally charge the tenants for the utilities in your area or I would not buy the property.There are many things you can do in a lease to protect yourself and reduce your costs (and that may be an issue with your PM's lack of experience - or it could be that your state is very landlord unfriendly) but here are a few items I would have in the lease if allowed in your area:The tenant must thoroughly clean the unit including any carpeting at move-out - we have a detailed example list of tenant cleaning responsibilities in our tenant handbook.We only accept the most financially highly qualified tenants, and often have tenants renew leases, but if a tenant wants or needs to break their lease early, there is a multi month Early Termination fee to help us defray off market time and turnkey make-ready costs due to early termination.Our tenants are responsible for both Pest/insect control and exterior landscape upkeep - though in an inner city townhouse/triplex set up tenant responsible landscape may not be feasible.