They can offer a more hands-off approach while you get your feet wet.

.: Thanks for the replies I totally understand you can not eliminate risk 100%I was just wondering if there was a safer way to handle this. 

Here are my thoughts/questions:-When you say "builder" please give some more background...is this someone who builds a handful of spec homes a year in the area?

Totally up to you but let us know what you go with! 

My Brother in law has a company that does this and hand full of realtors have him on speed dial 90% is pipe burst done in a few hours 7 to 8k per..

Indeed, the FAIR ordinance is anything but fair to non-corporate landlords, seemingly punished for investing in rental houses to generate income as an alternative to stocks and bonds.A handful of opportunists likely could learn to exploit these new rules, preying on otherwise law-abiding landlords to obtain legalized shake-down payments.

I don't personally have tens of thousands in cash on hand for larger down payments (I do though in my TSP/401k), but my dad will have maybe a couple hundred thousand after the sale of his house soon.

Amy is obvious since you never Answered @Joe S. question your just a schill looking to pick a fight and you have zero credibility with 6 total posts so where do you come off making demands like this..

Quote from @Mark Thiel: So I’m a total newbie when it comes to real estate investing outside of owning a few personal use homes.

I hired a contractor with a solid reputation for working with international investors, and we agreed on a total cost of $495K, to be paid in stages.