Strong or weak markets overall may affect interest rates but I don't control them.

If It's real old you might have clay pipe or galvanized going to the street and have galvanized inside of the property.This goes back to did he just tie into old stuff in the wall for new kitchen and bath or actually fix everything comment.As far as not paying rent it is a DISEASE.The tenants all talk and when they say they haven't paid rent the rumors start to swirl.Maybe the owner doesn't care anymore,maybe management doesn't care,maybe the owner is in foreclosure,maybe a bank took it over etc.More of the tenants will not pay and a pattern will develop.This is why it is critical to always file for eviction no matter what.The tenant can always pay and stop the process.If you rule with an iron fist the tenants know and are conditioned to pay the rent.Some are like children always testing you to see what they can get away with.This is why if you don't do things the same way all the time it can send mixed messages to them.It's that one moment of weakness that they take advantage of you.

The question is people that are predators usually do not have a nickel to their name and want to use an attorney on a pro bono (free until money is won) basis.The attorney will not take the free case and allocate their time if they believe they cannot get the insurance company to pay some money to go away or they will lose in court with a weak case.If you have someone that already has a bunch of money and is not thinking straight of course many attorneys will take their money and file knowing their client cannot win.So suing,winning damages in court,and COLLECTING MONEY from those damages are 3 totally separate things.What court does is suck away time and money and takes away from your productivity in business.You would want an LLC or otherwise just for an extra layer of protection and for tax purposes and business write offs.Your brokerage E and O you would need to look up maximum coverage,deductible,and exclusions in the policy.No legal advice

The current owner would give him a warranty deed (not quit claim, that's too weak) for the property.

More interested in Note buying, multifamily(with upside potential), and possibly outside area investing as I live in an area that doesn't cashflow well and job market is weak

(Very WEAKLY).

You get super good at seeing the weaknesses and creative ways to solve problems.

I wanted a larger equity cushion just in case the market starts to weak.

Your advice seems to be to blindly assume that the considered business model is a good model, and that by ignoring the people who tried it without success you’ll somehow eliminate the weaknesses of the model.

Good tools to use to learn about market rents include Rentometer, Zillow Rent Zestimate, and Zumper.The number of rental home listings and vacancies in the area also indicate how strong or weak the demand for rental property is, because high vacancy rates may lead to lower rents and poorer investment returns.3.