Purchased the duplex I live in (up/down)  and have smelled marijuana on several occasions when hanging out outside.

I've had two occasions where the reference they listed told me not to rent to them because they were violent, late payers, or too needy.Not doing a criminal, credit, background check, which might have revealed criminal or credit problemsBeing slow to evict (mentioned by others)Believing their sob storiesAccepting partial paymentsFailing to document every conversation or interactionNot walking through the property to make sure they're taking care of it (I now walk through every 9 months so I can see problems in different seasons)We've found crack pipes and other paraphernalia after they moved outWe've discovered piles and piles of trash (some bagged, some not) in closets, basements, sheds when trash cans and pickup service are included in their rent - all they had to do was carry it out, at no cost to themWe've Found smokers, pets, extra peopleOverall, I've had great success as a property investor. 

Now we’ll do it on occasion but we require tenants pay to move in and then once we finally are paid we reimburse them.

So, the exception would be if you had very little other income.Only in some rare occasions could you depreciate to zero. 

It’s free up to 5 times I’ve heard Brandon mention that numerous of occasions.

On multiple occasions he had us wasting our time looking up unnecessary tax forms online because he wasn’t well versed in tax code.

On three separate occasions, we were told it would not be more than $2000 total.

Now that's not to say that prior experience or education in other areas can't come in handy on occasion - I completely agree with that.

On another occasion, I noticed a 6"x12" patch on the wall, recently patched, not yet painted.

If you are going to use the place on occasion, then maybe it makes sense.