I have met so many people that have spent their last dime that they cannot even begin to start their real estate business. 

Even if I never see a dime from the 2nd, that entire balance would have gone to the IRS and FTB anyway. 

Must be nice.Edit: Telling me that my property was a bad investment 15-20 years ago is like me telling you that you failed as a stock investor because you didn't beat the S&P 500.First I was purchasing RE since 1993 and 13 years ago (not quite 15 but I suspect similar buy criteria) I started purchasing regularly.  13 years ago 1% properties were a dime a dozen.  2% was the goal (the rule used to be called the 2% rule) and was challenging in coastal southern Ca, but 1.5% was not that hard to find. 

Interestingly, insurance companies have flat amounts for just about everything, based upon zip codes.Once owner got their funds, they proceeded to nickel & dime us for every and any bid item we gave them.

Some of the bigger property managers in nearby communities have made a bad name of themselves by nickel & diming $30 from a bunch of people. 

Self managing once you have a profitable portfolio is stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.

Otherwise no point in exponential growth  So you advocate stepping over a dollar(s) to pick up a dime?

If they demand better performance, let them hire an A/C technician on their own dime and get a professional opinion, or they can terminate their lease early and move somewhere else.

Writing a clause such as  "All minor repairs under 500 dollars (or whatever dollar amount you choose) is the responsibility of the tenant" will prevent the tenant from nickel and diming you.

The nickle and dime fees if you don't have checkbook control can be measured in $30 to $150 fees "per transaction" so it's a HUGE cost savings to go the checkbook control way.