The tenant chose to be emotional and upset.

When it comes to money or credit, you don't want to get involved other than provide emotional support and advice.

I admire the can-do attitude, but I have seen too many people try and get emotionally so worn down that it becomes their life goal to ditch the property.

For those of you who landlord over 50+ properties, how do you emotionally handle these kinds of situations b/c it tore me apart.

Now granted, the color may be harder to cover and may take more time and cost, but the judge wont let you charge the whole cost to the tenant...a portion at best.Same with holes in the walls....if we are talking nails, tacks, etc and the tenant has been there a few years, that's considered reasonable....to expect nothing is not reasonable........ if the tenant attempted to FIX the issue without your approval and made it worse, then you can ding them for the extra work.There is a big difference on what you emotionally THINK/FEEL you should be able to hold the tenant liable for and what will actually hold up if they take you to court.My eviction lawyer often tells his clients to go ahead and try and charge for that stuff.......many tenants wont put up a big enough fight to take it to court....but if they do, you will lose so be prepared to pay it out

Emotionally speaking, having traveled to TX, I think the people in Texas are far friendlier and welcoming so that's something to consider as well.

One reason we use contracts is to take the emotion out of a transaction. 

Push emotion and  desperate hope aside and start analyzing and draw conclusions, make decisions based on data.That is the ONLY way to reliably make it.So if you want my advise:Step 1. : Calculate the cost/deal for every possible lead gen method that is feasible to youStep 2. : Evaluate the effort, and time it takes for each of these models to bear fruitStep 3. : Evaluate how much money you are missing for your highest probability lead gen model and FIND THAT MONEYStep 4. : Take actionThis is a system that removes "luck" from the equation.You are winging it and you are NO different from all the thousands of people that are currently struggling.I started REI less than 4 years ago and we are making serious money/month now.

I also work hard at staying non-emotional and focus on making the best financial decisions I can.  

Short of that it is a very rewarding career both emotionally (you help a lot of families achieve wealth building) and financially.