@Dean Klein, since the owner has been in the area for so long, i would chat with him if he can recommend you some local vetted tradesmen/handyman.there is a very fine line between "there's the new guy, lets get some money from him" and "there's the new guy, i want to work with him, he's a good guy".also, score the BP for the sub30k threads or how to harden my rentals. this may or may be not a full-time "job".remember, even in bad areas, people want nice things. look for "lazy landlord" series and @Steve Maduro as a start.

Once they are up and running (and appropriately "hardened" for rental), they kind of run themselves.  

Originally posted by @Steve Babiak:try this for further reading: http://bit.ly/1Gvwo2W Thanks for the term of "hardening" a rental - it's not something I've seen before, so I wasn't searching on that.

There is a good thread on how to "harden" your rentals that you can search for, as well.  

Concrete hardens as it ages,  so the newer concrete will be easier to drill into.

Quote from @Nathan Harden: The hardest part about direct mail is following up.

They get no tax benefits aside from the same benefits they'd get if they were visiting (eg being allowed to drive around and be protected from violence and crime.. )  Unfortunately I don't have the persuasive skills to make anyone consider the more nuanced reality of this situation and to see them as ordinary people (who in turn can be completely ordinary tenants), I am just writing this to note that not every hardened old landlord thinks this way, and I think its shameful and sad.   

Quote from @Nathan Harden: Hey BP!

all you needed for a turn over was a high pressure hose lol that’s funny.. we’ve picked up and remodeled a bunch of hardened properties like that.  

Hardened by previous experiences of creative financing professional.