Since upstairs and downstairs share the same stack frequently, I would suspect a blockage or even pipe collapse down below the lower tenant.

We lost two tenants with pit bulls that caused a lot of property damage, one stripper who had frequent late night visitors, and another tenant who got behind on paying rent.

A 1-4 unit property is considered a residential property and, if you would be financing the purchase by placing a mortgage, you would be dealing with the residential lending arm of the organisation (bank, trust, credit union) lending on the purchase.Purchasing a mult-unit property (5+ units) is considered a commercial transaction and financing would generally be through the commercial lending practice of organisation.There is a catch here that small multi-unit properties (say 5 - 10 units) are frequently low enough in acquisition cost that a commercial lender will see the deal as being too small to be of interest.

These units are being managed by property management, but i would like your take on whether or not it is a good idea to check and communicate frequently personally with my tenants.I had both good and bad experience, some tenants tends to complain more about various issues after i visit them and walk the unit.

Aly,Mathematically speaking, the notes against our mortgages are discounted by early, and frequent, payment ;-)  On our smaller residential properties we have 5-yr term, variable rate mortgages (prime - 0.45).  

Which is why I frequent Zillow and attempt to run numbers just to gain wisdom and understanding.

I have to make this point frequently to investors who are on the House Hacking kick.

I'm a full time Finance Manager and wanted to self manage, I also travel a lot so having property that I don't have to frequently visit was a must.  

There are lots of sharks in REI and lawsuits can be tedious time-wasters.I can also see some potential SEC issues with frequently selling and liquidating temporary Memberships inside the same entity.

I also go into the war zones frequently and this is not one of them.