She is friends with the potential tenant that called me that also has the 3 kids I referenced.  

Otoh, flipping right now is strong due to the lack of inventory, but again you face more competition for the same properties.  

Originally I had a friend renting from me for about 2 years, and there were MANY lessons learned.This time around, I plan on having a required deposit, but not sure how much it should be.  

This sort of thing happen to my friend doing a flip in the Winnetka neighborhood.

Make friends increase your circle of influence - Hire a private detective - they are good at finding people (give his a piece of the profits)Check the death notices or search government record for certificates of death, check the obituary for next of kin - contact them. 

Go make friends with them... it will be an excellent step forward.

Here's the kicker - I need to confirm because I also currently have a house that I'm renting in Washington, DC where the rental laws are very different (EXTREMELY tenant friendly).

If you can make friends and get to know people and LIKE people, then you can deploy that relationship in a manner for all to make money.

In tough markets, flippers are competitively bidding properties up to where you have to buy it at 85% of ARV.So, either with parents' help in the next 4 years, or on your own at 18+ years old, get motivated, get educated to know a good deal, and take advantage of nice profit potential in REI.I've been pointing new investors to consider the BRRRR method of fix/hold rentals.

Hi @Julia Bykhovskaia, do you know if your friends with 10+ properties counted their STR income on their financing?