Its short and simple straight from my hands to paper.

That way I can schedule little problems at my convenience rather that getting the Friday night call that the toilet won't flush any more (and hasn't since Tuesday, true story).I don't trust my tenants to repair my properties.

For any big dips you can try and level with sheets of tar paper, or if you're so inclined you can try and level as best you can in areas with cement-all (found at home depot).

Here's a "Tweetable":Verbal leases are not worth the paper they're written on.

From my understanding when you sign the papers you are stating that you intend to make this your permanent residence.

To me the only exception would be if they clogged drains by flushing paper towels or damage caused by abuse like punching a wall.Guess what happens when her sink starts leaking next....she doesn't want to get hit up for $100 and let's it drip drip drip and now a small repair could be thousands in damage.

The deposit cards and online payments reduced our trips moving paper by about 80% over a 12 month period.

Those deals that look good on paper often get pushed to investors from the Bay Area that don't know any better.

No tenant, no toilet, no headache. 

Calls to the Housing Department yielded nothing.The kicker came when a new inspector took over and failed the unit for (among other things), "mold" around the bathtub and a loose toilet.