Hi John - We do have one property that will not be profitable or just about break even in 2024 due to all the unforeseen maintenance items:  pool heater, roof, pool fence, handy man over a dozen times, remodeling took 3 months instead of 3 weeks, etc. 

It takes a little work to move your personal belongings out (paperwork, photos, special items), but it's worth it to have someone covering my mortgage and then some while I travel.

If they are ghosting you, start by taking photos of everything and itemize their bill. 

When an agent send you a video of a property walk through what are key items you are looking out for?

If I purchase this cabin, I want to do a complete update which would require parting with most of the furniture, so I have a few questions:1.How do new owners remove large and numerous items from a cabin if you are remote?  

Over the year, I fixed some items up and raised rents as 3 out of 4 units were under market.

Of course, your bid will be extremely important, but it would be a challenge to get to the point of executing a bid proposal if we aren't confident in much of the above items.  

Buying a new, or nearly new property, even when at a 10% premium to the market, typically allows for higher rents to be achieved, provides for warranty transfer on items like appliances, roof, windows, and general construction, and prevents cap ex issues to impact annual ROI for the first 10-20 years.

The only difficulty is I’m trying to find a multifamily property in an older housing stock area but nonetheless an owners unit inside a larger house is the goal but hopefully I can get lucky with the items you pointed out as well. 

I used a faucet as an example because that is an item that normally breaks down first and often observe customers walking down the fixture aisle at HD or Lowes looking for the least expensive option, whereas purchasing inexpensive tile or other cosmetic items won't necessarily cause maintenance issues although I would argue will cost you revenue (more on this below).