Rather than risking your money and spending hundreds or thousand of hours of your time trying to build a portfolio where you own a bunch of hungry dinosaurs you have to feed and clothe for a few hundred dollars a month you would be better off cleaning tables in a fast food restaurant for a few years with your spare time, save more cash to get into even some small multi-units, earn 500% to 1,000% more on your money with multi-units and save yourself from the grief of having to pay $6,000 to $12,000 to clean, paint and -re-rent a single family home that has minimal returns.YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO DO THE MATH and stop listening to wannabe so-called experts who did one real estate deal and figured out they could make more money by selling their story than they really can with their real estate investing.I see too many amateurs risking their money when they don't have real estate experience, no business skills, nor trade skills.

I try to regularly donate food and clothing to my local salvation army.

Additional food for thought...Why do you think out of state, absentee owners mailing lists are great to market to?

Just some food for thought you may be able to structure this as a business purchase and go about financing it that way.

Just to weigh in, my clients and I do not offer pest control services - that's on the tenant because a lot of what happens has to do with how they dispose of food, cleanliness, etc.

Yea, as an investor you should get to "sit back and collect the check" just like we sit back and collect a plate a food brought by a server at a restaurant. 

You can take a mortgage with a Mexican bank.

Are we required to refund them for the food that spoiled or is that a courtesy?

You made a good deal, provided for yourself, and continued putting food on the table.

Hi Mellisa,Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade) kills fleas.It works better than any of the chemicals I've tried.Fleas slide over it and it tears them open and they die.