I've noticed those principals/owners who build rapport and relationships with tenants tend do have poor investments (i.e., they don't raise rents, etc.).

@Lindsey Armatis-Rivera The outer areas (rings) of Phoenix such as San Tan Valley tend to offer more affordability.

Brokers tend to offer a big service related advantage since most retail Loan Officers make much less money. 

In my experience, they tend to congregate around messy people.

The unit 1 tenant swears that she didn't do it, and to be honest I tend to believe her because she's proven to be far more responsible than the unit 2 tenant when it comes to paying her rent on time (albeit that's fairly circumstantial).

Also, there was no insulation or vapor barrier under the house - electric bill was $800 for December/January.

Do you mind me asking if there any states you tend to stay away from for other reasons?

Between adopting a buy-and-hold approach in real estate and selling everything when you get nervous, the former strategy will tend to do better for the vast majority of investors.

This tends to assuage lenders     (2) though banks may threaten this, they have never taken action against a performing note placed within a Land Trust from either myself or my clients.

As Steve pointed out, if it's a long-term issue then the insurance companies tend to be less willing to pay because they will claim you had the opportunity/responsibility for discovering the problem and fixing it before it got worse.