The two tenants I had in rental properties if my own were awesome. One was an ex-military, now civilian, doctor. The place was kept spotless and I never worried about a rent check. The other tenant I had I met in the elevator if my building. He happened to work at the same company as my husband at the time. He told me up front his credit report was bad because he had been laid off during the dot com lay offs in the late 90’s/2000’s, which was just a couple years before. I didn’t bother to run his credit report. He was a great tenant. After a few months his teenage son (already graduated high school) moved in. The place was in perfect order the couple times I came by. He once even called me to ask if I had received the rent check ok, because I didn’t cash it for over almost two weeks. I had been traveling, but he didn’t know that.
Another time I rented out my Inlaws place for three months. The tenants paid in full up front and had the place cleaned themselves before they left.
As a realtor I did a few rentals where I was on the listing side. I never had a problem.
I worked with a woman who used to rent a property out. She eventually had tenants from hell one time. Wound up having to do $10k in repairs. She sold the place after that.
Most people I know who are landlords are very satisfied with their investment. Tenants from hell are the minority, but when it happens it’s just awful. Also, depending on the state, the laws can make it worse or better. Most people I know who are terrified of being a landlord have never been one.