This is in sharp contrast to normal daily life, where not having a garage for the toys and having 4 people share a single bathroom would be a PITA, and where I don't want to live in a shoebox condo just because it has killer ocean or mountain views and a fun bar across the street. 

I am hopeful the first 5 years is a slow painful growing experience and it can take off from there.

Is it a pain sometimes? 

Having to ask the agent to send you the required documents before submitting an offer is such a pain. 

Tenant evictions are a pain in the BUTT!

Though it’s tempting to take pictures on your device — smartphone cameras are becoming undeniably sharp — use a professional camera or hire a professional.#2: Soft Skills - If your soft skills could use improvement, start working those muscles now.

They were kind of a pain to work with but the interest rate was right, so I went with them.

@Andrew LowOPM is a real thing and a great thing. but, lets be real. you cannot go into real estate investing with a few hundred bucks...at least not in most cases. at this point, we have people that will fund our deals over 100% but it took experience and pain and having spent our own money to get there. if you have done a bunch of deals and have a proven track record, you can really not use any of your own money. i do not know, just starting out if you can pull that off. hard money is a great option. happy to share more if you'd like.

So, for you the pain point you're trying to avoid is critical to identify. 

Obviously, if they damaged the tub or any other object, there are other provisions of the lease that require them to pay for damages.I know that renting can sometimes be a pain, but it has its rewards too.