My only problem is my children often offer me horrible food choices hoping for an early demise and access to the step up in basis.

One of the reasons why I feel they were cooking the books and inflating costs.

I currently work full-time for an organic food manufacturer, but have some exposure to real estate in the past.

Just some food for thought.

@Josh Cook- Metro is at the top of my list right now.

Food for thought.Another option that I have investors employing now is a combination of separating cash and debt to create an environment of lowered risk but good return using the 1031 exchange to separate debt (risk) and cash (security). 

We obtained tap fee estimates for $45k for water and $45k for sewer)Inspection Period Deadline: Oct 8Closing Deadline: Oct 15Assignment Fee: $50,000Earnest Deposit: $11,000MSA: Fayetteville MSA (376k population; $111k median home price; 13% vacant housing; $1,100 3-bed apartment rents)Located less than 10 miles from two Walmart Supercenters, a Walmart Distribution Center, and is near McDonald’s (0.1 miles), Food Lion Grocery Store (0.1 miles), Gray’s Creek High School (4.9 miles), and Cape Fear Valley Medical Center (11.0 miles).

The best treatment is to cook the house by heating it to 300 degrees for a few hours.

Where I am going with this is that if the fire was tenant negligence with cooking, then their renters insurance may pay.

Sometimes it will be all you have in the face of things as cruel as finding out that they left their animals behind without food or water when they skipped out, or as malicious as lying about you to everyone in the neighborhood for months, or as painful as discovering that yes, you do need to spring for four thousand bucks of unexpected expenses in January to change out the furnace that went bad at just exactly the wrong time.