These fun potential surprises can come up unexpectedly in the thousands of dollar range or more, depending.

then you might be in for some unexpected surprises if one of the partners screws up.

It's the easiest as well, and everything can be bought at home & garden stores/walmart/homedepot.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0087.jpg(setup)http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0088.jpg(bubbler is bubbling)http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0089.jpg(a few plants for demo.)http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd154/tonytwotime_2007/IMG_0090.jpg(all plants i'm planting. some dirt, some hydro)Supplies1 large dark colored container1 dual outlet air pumpAir tubing2 air stones (to oxygenate the solution)solo cupsexpanded clay pebblesepsom saltgeneral hydroponic solutionutility knife, or drill with hole cutting attachment

TV outlets are used to have people think various ways or not.

We've lost tenants mostly to family issues (unexpected new baby, breakups, etc.).

However, I would explain this nicely to the tenants during the introduction to let them know so that the notice would not be unexpected and they know what will happen if they pay late.Technique I've used with previous tenants is that I made myself as just a messenger from the owner, which makes me not really the same thing as owner since i'm just a lowly servant.

I think the question is more complex than that, because if you are holding a rental you must/should hold reserve funds in that account for any unexpected repairs, etc.

If we look at it as a 20% rule instead of $100/door, it would add a lot more cushion for an investor to weather a storm or handle the unexpected.  

This would include replacing all wire with Romex, changing out the outlets to three prong, replacing and grounding the panel, adding GFCI to the outlets in the kitchen and bathroom.Over the years, I'm willing to bet that there have been "fixes" to get around this in that home - that includes, grounding outlets back to themselves (photo below), and/or grounding GFCI outlets back to the panel (which isn't really a ground).  

Mine test every single outlet, switch, appliance, etc...