LLC piercing corporate veil

[Ross Kane]

Hi guys

I am planning to buy my first property soon. I am thinking a duplex. Maybe with tenants already in place. I am feeling overwhelmed and have many questions. But at this point I am going to reduce it to 2 questions so I don't give you a headache. 

1) if a property is being sold as is, is that an automatic disqualification? I am thinking why would a seller sell as is when he can sell normal and get a higher price? how much less should a property be sold because of as is disclosure? 20% less? Right now I am looking at a condo that's in foreclosure and as is, the price is a little too good to be true.

2) I am in California, an anti-landlord anti-business state. I don't know how to be a landlord and protect myself against crazy tenants. I've been reading about LLC protections and many sources that seem to be reliable say that a single member LLC is useless and judges pierce the corporate veil on these all the time. The judge will say this LLC is a sham and you and the LLC are the same. should I have a fake partner (not that the partner doesn't exist, but he contributes $1 to purchase the property) so that it's not a single member LLC? some people are saying save your $800 and buy umbrella insurance. But umbrella insurance doesn't protect against many things like mold. I don't know what to do to best protect myself, and one problem is I also don't know how likely these events are. Like are we talking about winning the lottery or landlords get sued for mold all the time? Another advice I have been given is "just be a good landlord" but that doesn't protect me against crazy tenants and ambulance chasing lawyers who would be happy to destroy my life.