I am surprised in a city the size of Portland you would have trouble finding a reasonable property manager.

No matter how much screening you do or rules you have in the rental agreement, your tenants can be a contributing factor.I'd rather improve a neighborhood with involved citizens, grant money, the support of the city, and relationships with other landlords than have it legislated.

Well the first thing is to describe WHAT you are looking for.All these people here are recommending contacts but you haven't mentioned what you want to buy - asset class, what size deal, what areas ( Texas is a big state............ : ), etc.You need to have a clear understanding of what you want and are trying to do and communicate that effectively on the phone.

Not knowing details and size, ARV's, etc.

. $2,839 total cost to remodel bathroom.Very nice. most bathrooms that size run at least $3,000 and up to $6,000 to remodel.

To flip the house, a full dormer on the upstairs to put a bath on the second floor and increase the size of the two small bedrooms would probably be wise while doing the roof.  

There was one podcast that I recently listened to that went into the tenant interview process and provided some huge insight into properly screening tenants to minimize problematic tenant base, I'm hoping this will help in my journey.  

Check out "FilePlace" under the resources tab at the top of your screen.

That's one of the cheapest screening prices I've found. 

As a landlord I simply want thorough and up to date screening information (credit/criminal/eviction).