I, the ardent competitor always looking for the next over-the-top mind-and-body-breaking challenge, continuously backed away from the Safari.

Unlike traditional lending there are NO rules, regulations, laws, licenses or governing bodies to hold Private Money Lenders accountable to.

ValuePenguin is a good source for the relative cost of insurance by state.Operational Costs - Costs like property taxes, insurance cost, state income taxes, regulatory costs (ex: time and cost to evict), inspections, rent control, etc., have a tremendous impact on your return.

Too bad they acknowledge it in a footnote rather than in the body of the "story".At worst having your name forged on a deed or mortgage is an inconvenience, however I understand that to the uninformed and misinformed it can be frightening, a fear made worse by things like the FBI "story".Having worked on many title insurance claims over thirty years that involved forged deeds and mortgages, and having consulted on even more, it's with some experience I can state that I have never seen someone lose title to real property or be forced to pay a mortgage they didn't create or benefit from, because of a forgery and I really wish the fairy tale would die a natural death.  

During the visit, he recommended I start using a CPAP, take anti-depressants, and have a full-body cancer screening even though there's no history of cancer in my family.I don't work with anyone that tries to up-sell me. $9,000 is ridiculous.

(and stay employed) However, construction is hard on the body, and I am just an Electrician, not a Rocker or Iron Worker. 

Well, over the next few weeks I could figure out she was a major busy body.

In pre-retirement, we'll live there part time so proximity to large body of water is preferred.

@Ryan Howell @Mike Szabo @Lindsay Green Some thoughts:I think we're seeing a theme, that owning an STR near a WNC downtown has a little more risk of regulatory complications.

It's a great and unique deal but it's in a regulatory floodway.