The information contained in this post is not to be relied upon.

What books would you recommend for someone who’s just starting out?

Appears the guests may have left the faucet "on" when the pipes were frozen and when no water came out, forgot to turn it "off".What may have caused the overflow of the sink is maybe the drain lines were also frozen?

My business partner and I just opened up our property managment company in the Chicago/Chicagoland area and it is not easy to do this the "right way".Honestly you can get yourself into some serious trouble if something happened with a tenant, an injury, anything and they sue and find out you don't have a license.

All this is to say, I believe it would be money well spent for sure... 

This is too much out of pocket for a net cashflow of only $175/per month on a holding property. 

But some believe condos are riskier due to potential mismanagement of the community by the HOA.As an out of state buyer seeking a low risk/maintenance LTR, are there any glaring downsides to buying and renting out a condo? 

RentRedi has options of "Accept", "Reject", and "Request Update (more information)".

You better check out your legal situation, rights and obligations before you make a very expensive mistake!

This one came from Massachusetts, a state where the eviction laws are not in the landlord's favor.