Somewhere, somebody is going to need to be paid for a service.

And services have been cut to the bone.At some point we likely see bankruptcy (as predicted by the bonds), but even if we dont, its fair to say Illinois is not a growth state, and that costs for fees, and property taxes are likely headed up.So declining population, radical tenant friendly laws and high government costs all point to me as a place I would not want to invest.

Oh, and thanks for your service.

My advice would be to treat service members the same as everyone else. 

I’ve been working as an independent contractor physician since Nov 2015 and had two years of income tax returns and had to submit recent pay stubs and bank account statements to qualify for the FHA loan.  

I have seen legitimately better and worse by a wide margin as local area rents / utilities / taxes / building services each play a big role.Also, from a landlords perspective, it depends on what gets passed on to the tenants (e.g.

Growth: 0%Renter Population: 30+%City Description: The city is the service hub of the county, it contains all the big box stores as well as a struggling downtown.  

I have a local pest control company service 5 units for mice every month

Once again, a profound illustration of the importance of financial independence.

However, independent of the painful schooling I've had being a long distance landlord (I refuse to hand it over to a prop man co), I've managed to turn the property around, literally doubled the rent from when i bought it, significantly improved the tenant base and have updated, renovated, and flushed out most of the poor workmanship the property has suffered over the years.