The landlord/tenant relationship does not have to be adversarial, and framing the "inspections" as routine maintenance that you take care of so the tenant doesn't have to makes it sound like you're the nice guy.If you haven't been inside in years, how do you know what's going on?

@Josh K.In contrast to what others have told you, it is relatively easy to pull credit histories for either Canadian or U.S.A. citizens.We routinely rent to students from the U.S.A. and use a credit service, such as TVS, which operates in both our countries and allows us to pull either Canadian or U.S.A. credit histories.  

I routinely pass out the lead information booklet and have the tenants sign the disclosure forms. 

For the baseboards I pull the existing and replace with 1x6 pine with quarter round on top for that fancy touch.

In the neighborhood with the “Not for sale” signs that I had in mind with my comment, there are a lot of 100 year-old working class craftsman bungalows that are now squeezed in between fancy new 3 unit condo buildings that loom over them, so many people feel literally squeezed out by investors.

Ignore all thw fancy strategies that involve anything telling you otherwise... until you have enough experience to accept thise risks.

When I say I have been at this quite a long time, it is absolutely true, because I have logged more hours in the Courtroom than most of my colleagues in my particular peer group.But that is besides the point, because nothing about that changes the nature of the information I am providing.I have routinely argued and had upheld, in my jurisdiction, attorney fee provisions for 25% of principal owed.

But keep in mind the job of the insurance company is to try and avoid paying claims.They don't build fancy offices and name stadiums paying out claims.

Explain what is an emergency, what is an urgent need, and what is a routine maintenance item.3.

When it comes to rental I really think people like fresh & clean over fancy.