You can make your own call... I mean... I'm still renting it out... it's financially beneficial. Just you can't have an emotional investment in the property.

You can make your own call... I mean... I'm still renting it out... it's financially beneficial. Just you can't have an emotional investment in the property. The tenant family I have in there now is OK... they have kids who draw on walls and that sort of thing... and the Dad calls me to tell me he's "fixed" things instead of telling me they are broken... Who knows if he's fixing them correctly or just enough so they hold... but I like the guy. "Oh, you fixed this thing I didn't know was broken, that wasn't broken before you moved in, and now you want money off your rent? Uh... um..." (What's the appropriate response? Ha.) Worst thing he's done is tell the gardener not to mow the lawn because they had a baby sleeping... so for a few months my gardener was charging me and not doing anything... I got a fine from the HOA that alerted me the lawn needed to be taken care of. (I haven't been in the property though so I don't know what it's really like inside.) But I think I've got a good contact with them, and I've covered my bases with what it looked like before, I have like 300 images of every wall in room and every faucet and every cupboard... so... I guess worst case I just ding them for repairs. But look... the contract and the photos -- an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I never want to have to sue a tenant again. It's a lot easier said than done "screening the applicants" -- the first time you meet someone, they could drive a BMW, have good credit, have a nice education, and a respectable job, seemingly have well-behaved kids... but you never know what they're going to be like. You get references from past landlords... you never know if it's a real person or if it's just someone keen on getting rid of them... It's all just luck. By far the worst tenant I had was the first one (and I found them because they were friends with one of my neighbors who I trusted). There are many less stressful ways to make a buck... but sure, if you can get the right tenant... it should in theory be passive income. Good luck!