Irs allows you to depreciate a car over five years we all know It can last much more than that especially if you maintain it.  

I believe there may be some additional stipulations with short sales regarding the time-frame frame for which the agent/investor must maintain ownership before resell. 

By following a disciplined guideline such as this, you never buy trash properties that run high costs, you never buy excessively costly properties that the average american cant afford to buy from you if you chose to liquidate, and you maintain a profit margin of your desired end point.Obviously as well, you can tell that you are more limited in the types of properties that you can buy, and where you can buy for obvious regions, but in higher populated regions, rents are always more expensive simply because of supply and demand.

You can drive around town and see what homes are not being maintained, you can view court filings, foreclosure filings, vacant homes, divorces, but there is no list that anyone has that can be passed along.  

@Mike McKinzieCouldn't agree more about how outrageous the fee structures are for a majority of PMs.I do property management in San Diego and my team and I charge a flat 8% fee for full service management.The only exception to this is our "one-time tenant locator" service, but that is an ALTERNATIVE to on-going management, not in addition to.It is beyond me how some companies justify charging fees for leasing, advertising, maintenance, etc on top of their "management" fee.Is it just me; or is advertising, leasing, and maintaining the property not the core function of a PM?

It's your house, you maintain it, and that includes the garbage disposal.You should definitely require renter's insurance.  

I'm not anxious to evict them since they seem to be keeping the property maintained and the heat on at their expense. 

Property preservation companies will "secure" the property (board up and lock any kind of access, winterize if necessary, maintain the lawn, tarp a leaking roof etc...) and check it every so often for damage/vandalism. 

It is expensive to maintain, but can I just keep writing off the expenses? 

A huge expanse of lawn that you do not have to maintain.