But, if they are flippers/rehabbers, investors, property managers, I could see that being a benefit.And I would certainly be looking at flight options into either market, as I couldn't imagine putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into investments in a market with visiting those investments at least a couple times per year.  

Your lease agreement should include a clause that makes the cost of repairs up to a certain dollar amount to be covered by the tenant. 

To fix this problem without involving all of this shenanigans would probably only cost a few hundred dollars in materials and a few hours labor.

I got dollars to doughnuts you’re screwed. 

Renting for top dollar gets you less rent overall when the tenants turn over yearly and it takes you extra months to fill the vacancy!

I made millions of dollars in the great recession b/c people used excessive leverage and lost properties to their lenders.

The only thing I don’t understand is why the OP, with millions of dollars at stake, asks investors on a general real estate forum for answers to specific legal questions instead of asking an attorney specializing in mortgage law. 

Landlord’s only option to collect funds for damages is to take tenants to court.More and more tenants are only having a portion of their rent covered by S8, so landlords need to still screen S8 applicants for portion they must pay.Landlord cannot charge S8 tenants a portion of shared utilities – which can lead to the infamous tales of tenant retaliation against landlord by blasting heat on high with open windows during winter.S8 caseworker response times can be very slow, as they are usually overworked & underpaid.Again, overall it’s a pretty good deal for a landlord that does some decent screening.Exposing Section 8 Housing | Tenants From hell 243 - YouTubeLiberals Blame this Eviction on Landlord Despite the Before & After Footage | Tenants From Hell 241 - YouTubeMy first Baltimore buy & hold investment - SOLD (Lessons learned) (biggerpockets.com)Besides MANY self-labeled "gurus" exaggerating their success, many of them just supply readily available info.If you're too busy to find the info and are willing to pay for it, no problem as you accept their time vs money solution.REGARDING S8 GURU ISSUES SPECIFICALLYMost of them don't share all the facts about how Section 8 actually works.They claim you can get HIGHER rent from S8 tenants vs private-paying tenants.Why would the government allow our tax dollars to be spent this way?

While driving for dollars, I’ve come across a neighborhood that’s older but is surrounded by new construction.

You do for it the major tasks that appear and liability, these small tasks just are gravy for them to manage.Get a PM, you're saving pennies costing dollars.