What critical information are you leaving out? 

I like Trump because he can openly criticized what is bad about America's politics (especially his view to the neo-con and to the ultra liberals).These two folks that you cited, I'm not surprised as well, are the the hated individuals by some group, which is not surprising as well.

Fortunately, the deposits were small especially on one unit.Purchase: $620KBirddog: $20k (agreed was $15K, but he earned the extra $5K)Uncollected deposit: ~$2500.Address the various inspection items most important being no front railing (see photo below for why it was critical): ~$3k using 2 of the employees I had back then).Total: $645.5KLoan 2.75%, 30 year, 80% LTC (near perfect timing on this loan as near lowest rate ever): Piti: $2549.Market rent: $7500Actual initial rent after initial increase $5990.initial rent - PITI: $3441. 

Even if you are looking at a long term buy and hold, the ability to sell a property and receive a reasonable price is critical to your exit strategy.

Know how to take constructive criticism.

No criticism meant from any of the above, just my experience & opinion I’d give to my friend or cousin looking to get started.

You want to be able to talk to their contractor (to see what they did), do reference checks on their contractor (to see if they have a reputation for quality), and assess the scope of work (did they put lipstick on a pig, or remedy some of the more critical issues an older dwelling would have). 

Screening, Job history, Eviction background  are my critical assessments of potential tenants.  

Anyone have any thoughts/constructive criticism, comments?

One more critical thing to consider is "who is paying the bills?".