Freshly painted units will rent better, but if you only have a year of wear and tear and a good former tenant, you should be able to clean and fix and patch and be fine.

Plus the Great Lakes have plenty of fresh water.

I also like to look for STRs myself near Bush Gardens, USF college and the Tampa Medical centers.

A garden.

Back to the OP, I would consider explaining that you foresee insurance coverage issues and propose a cash for keys and start fresh.

I am fresh off the investment train.

This was also a lot cheaper than ShowMojo ($99 vs $12 Google Domain, $7 hosting, $10+4 YoucanBook.me).Several more tips:-Create 2 (or more) Craigslist listings and renew every other day to keep one of them fresh and near the top-Prominently display URL at the beginning and end of listing description to re-direct applicants to site-Do not share phone reference in your Craigslist listing--just place site URL to redirect them to book-Use Rentlinx to post on ALL of the same sites that an MLS listing gets posted on (except listings on Trulia for some reason disappear in a few days)-Use a same-area-code Google Voice number (if you're out of state), and adjust greeting to state that to schedule a showing must be done only via website and voice mails are only for previous applicants (you will need this as Rentlinx will share it with other sites unfortunately.. there is no workaround).

It has restaurant sizzle and cool hippy dippy gardens with chickens in the backyard, but not the tourist demand of downtown Oakland, SF, or other areas..

Here are my total numbers since closing back in Oct/Nov:Upfront costs: $48,516.46 (closing, downpayment, inspection, appraisal)Mortgage Payments: $7,150.92 (P&I, escrow)PM Distributions: $15,761.66 (rent collected minus repairs, pest, PM fee, gardening/landscaping, etc.)

I loved even better brainstorming with my new tenants about little extras they might want: a fenced dog yard, landscaping, better parking, raised veggie garden beds.It struck me that landlording is a caring profession.