The home is very well maintained and no work is needed for renting it out.

My ac guy said that will probably be the root cause of her bill being high since the AC has to work extra hard to drop the temp when its turned back on rather than it maintaining a constant temp during the day and having a smaller drop when occupied.

Maintaining the books on a GAAP basis though helps me when it is necessary to report to third parties.

The had sold their house that was in bad shape and were afraid to have to maintain another with him being disabled.

The last drop took it from 59K down to 49K. it seems this is about the discount that things seem to get snatched up at around here.It is a 4 bedroom 1 1/2 bath bungalow in a great older neighborhood that is mostly filled with excellently maintained houses in the 130K - 170K price range.

Under law, are you able to put the onus onto the optionee to maintain the property?

On paper, these lower cost units seem so appealing that it makes it difficult to even look at more expensive ones with lower returns.On my side, Im leaning towards starting with an easier to maintain property ( prob more expensive), but as I learn more about REI, gain thicker skin, will hopefully be able to handle lower cost, higher turn-over, less appreciation etc. properties.

However, everything I've researched says in order to enjoy the liability protection from an LLC or Corporation, you HAVE TO MAINTAIN it properly.

ARS § 33-729.A states, ". . . if a mortgage is given to secure the payment of the balance of the purchase price, or to secure a loan to pay all or part of the purchase price, of a parcel of real property of two and one-half acres or less which is limited to and utilized for either a single one-family or single two-family dwelling, the lien of judgment in an action to foreclose such mortgage shall not extend to any other property of the judgment debtor, nor may general execution be issued against the judgment debtor to enforce such judgment, and if the proceeds of the mortgaged real property sold under special execution are insufficient to satisfy the judgment, the judgment may not otherwise be satisfied out of other property of the judgment debtor, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary.ARS § 33-814.G states, "If trust property of two and one-half acres or less which is limited to and utilized for either a single one-family or a single two-family dwelling is sold pursuant to the trustee's power of sale, no action may be maintained to recover any difference between the amount obtained by sale and the amount of the indebtedness and any interest, costs and expenses."

QuickBooks (or at least Quicken) is a good choice for maintaining the books.As for business entity, it's always a good idea to protect your assets and minimize taxes -- talk to a CPA for your best choice of entity.And definitely have a separate bank account for all business transactions.