UK spec CO detectors have better alarm rates than US spec one's as well.

It is always better to hire GC with insurance and pay a little more than take the gamble because you might have a pro tenant who might step on a nail in a piece of wood the GC laid down and the GC has no insurance guess who they will go after.

The article shows who they are and how they operate locally.Patrick,Here "was" my take on the situation earlier in the year when I heard hedge funds and private equities buying foreclosures.The hedge funds and private equities are gambling with OPM.

With your house paid off , you can sleep well at night , I dont gamble with my primary , if everything goes south , I still have a roof for the family .

Don't gamble with the money you can't afford to lose

and dont want to sign it away to a corp (it just doesn't sit right with me).I also want to keep it under personal mortgage so I can get a better interest rate.The thing is, Im moving from London, UK to Oakland, CA in the next couple of weeks, so I am very unfamiliar with US legal and tax issues (trying to read and research as much as I can).On another note, if anyone knows an aggressive real estate CPA or attorney in the Bay Area I would be grateful for an intro.

Will you tend to be super picky with tenants, or be willing to take the first gamble that meets your qualifications (since they are all truly gambles anyway)?

If you want to gamble with your money, go to Las Vegas.

There is a difference between investing and gambling/speculating.

Essentially gambling that the value of your leveraged assets is going to increase over time.