We offered to drive him across town to the Humane Society and were prepared to pay the disposal fee for him.

Entity structuring is one of those often-overlooked areas of Real Estate Investing that can be kind of like the flu- you don't really give much thought to it until you get it (it, in the case of entity structuring, being a lawsuit), but once you have it- you can think of little else.Let's face it folks, we live in a litigious society.

That perception is difficult to break.I only buy in good locations now. 

However, I see moving the cost of dead beat tenants to the landlord as another symptom of our society divorcing individual consequences from individual actions.  

Typically, it is where you price for a large return disproportioned of other's perception of the real risks.  

Personally, I would feel comfortable living here, but this is just based on my perception of the area and the apparent quality of the nearby units/yards/etc.

I've been in your situation and can say that driving up to properties in a nice car absolutely gives off a certain perception you may not always want to...Good luck

An exception would be commercial real estate development where the returns are very large and worth my time.I have clients worth 1 million up to 100 million in net worth and the perception for many of them changes over time.

Whether he's right or not is largely irrelevant...the fact that the perception even exists is telling indeed.  

A friend reviewed my letter and opined to me that referring to my self as "real estate investor", in my own letter would spook potential clientele due to the negative connotation the phrase has in modern society.