If the poor's put as much effort into getting a job instead of trying to screw their landlord over they wouldn't be poor.

That said, unless the amount you end up losing is substantial it likely won't be worth going after with the cost of litigation and also the effort to collect. 

If a deal doesn't work if you have 3-4 worst case scenarios in plumbing, electrical, etc... then it wasn't purchased well enough to make it worth the time and effort. 

No one arguing for rent control, rent stabilization, or "just cause" nonsense understands basic economic concepts, and holds beliefs that are fundamentally opposed to the principles of liberty and freedom, upon which the US was founded.It would be great if we could just laugh along with them at the joke, but their efforts and scare tactics are still getting implemented and causing long-term harm.  

@James McGovern, while I don't necessarily agree with your language, I certainly understand where you are coming from.If you truly want to exploit them, then continually report code violations: long grass, broken windows, broken down cars parked on property, anything that will keep racking up the nuisance issues of the property that the landlord not only has to handle with effort but also with money...But, assuming you don't want to go to that level, find the owner and reach out.  

After securing the deal, the buyer made my wife and I go through three-feet deep of snow to "winterize" the house so there wouldn't be any plumbing issues.It was a 2 hour drive there, and a 2 hour drive back.So much time and effort put into it for only $4k...

Rather than take a complete loss on the uncollectable debt, can I take the assigned debt, make collection efforts and upon failure to collect declare the loss to offset the capital gains?

I would watch out for these kinds of marketing efforts. 

It's easy to obtain, costs very little, and doesn't require extra, on-going effort to maintain.

Why put effort into providing a product that (a) your tenants may not want, (b) increases your workload, and (c) doesn't line your pocket?