For instance my home has a 2 bedroom home in the backyard I rent out.

I don't have any previous experience with such a situation for something like a water softener, but a client of mine did get in the middle of a similar instance when they moved into a unit with a stove that was apparently RTO from the previous tenant.

@Karen Margrave   Karen many instance's out of state investing for Califorina investors was coming up here to Oregon. 

I've read instances where people have purchased 5 houses in a relatively short time frame.

You need to use a skip tracer or service online to locate their address if you're not having luck with public records.PR in this instance likely means Personal Representative.

When I decided I wanted to build a rental portfolio (this was SFHs) I paid market price, maybe a little higher in a couple instances.

Compared to the US, Ireland is size of a football pitch and we have to reach for our passports to go anywhere which is why it's hard not to meet well traveled Irish people, something we take for granted.There are some hotel chains including Radisson and individual hoteliers who consider the kind of industrial location you refer to as a niche market and there are plenty of instances where hotels have been extremely successful commercially locating in such areas.

The account statement tells me exactly where every deposit comes from.If I ever have a tenant insistent on paying cash (if they don't have bank accounts, for instance), I would have them go to a Chase branch, or use the PayNearMe system where they take their cash to a 7/11 or other participating retailer (Brandon Turner talks about it often). 

My parents home that they bought in 1972 for 35k... for instance in Cupertino...

You can get gifts for conventional but usually you have to match the down payment and amount down is more.So for instance a quad at 80k a door is 320,000.