Joel, I appreciate you correcting and pointing out the distinction that you are speaking of handymen, not trades professionals.

Here, they are not acting as a lender but as your partner -- a not so slight distinction, but also not what it appears you asked.

It doesn't make distinctions between properties nearly well enough, and operates on a time lagged basis, especially bad in a down trending market.Yes, get long term fixed rate conventional financing.

Jake,I see what you were getting at now; however, the IRS may not look too fondly on this distinct taking advantage of the system.

Remember, location matters.I work in a couple distinct markets.

This puts me, as a buyer at a distinct disadvantage.

Eight pages of details which is great for selling the property and restoring the house because now all of the distinct features can be outlined and confirmed.The stone is referred to in the plans as 'Penna Stone'.

The downside is that Austin is rapidly losing the distinctiveness that "kept Austin weird."

Yes them being responsible for ANYTHING can be scary.I do not like the lease where they are responsible for first 50 dollars etc.As stated they never fix anything or report it and it gets worse.I also do not like them to change light bulbs.I have seen them mess up cord chains on ceiling fans,drop the globes and break the lights,take lights out of 4 unit in bathroom and put in another place and only have one bulb left in bathroom so they don't have to buy more,try to use wrong size bulb that reams out the fixture or causes an ark,mess up the outside lighting and rim out the casing that holds the unit to the wall etc.I have about seen it all.We get the extended life lights so we have less maintenance calls and the tenants like it because it cuts down on their power bills.You can find them on sale as nobody buys them because of price.We find them on sale at Home Depot for half off and stock up.Same thing with washer and dryer.They install improperly and water comes down into the ceiling when running.Also they don't call if toilet is running from tank to bowl as they are afraid only 25 dollars to replace so they would have to pay.Instead I tell them we will take care of it and to call us.We build a rep as a landlord not out to rip them off and we take care of them.We also screen tenants heavily to keep out the bad element.If I made them fix it they would rig it plus since I pay water with one line going to the building by them not reporting my water might be 50 dollars more for that unit that month.I have seen tenants take off smoke detector and use it for ash tray,take a piece of plastic from a bag and connect it for the pull chain when the rubber one broke on the toilet etc.So my experience with many tenants is you DO NOT leave it up to them.It costs more money and I end up fixing it anyways.I think the big distinction here is some investors on here might own a house they are renting out which will be different on many levels from an apartment complex.Someone that owned a home and is now renting might take better care of it versus someone that lived with another person and now wants to rent an apartment.With my 20 unit I have a repair guy on site.Now I don't let tenants give me a list of demands.If the fridge is old but working,stove,stove hood,or a part goes out we replace the old part to fix.We DO NOT meet cosmetic demands from the tenant.They have to pay and do that themselves if they want a plusher carpet,designer paint etc.

Clearly that statement doesn't make sense, and the answer is going to depend on whether you're trying to generate a product or a sum.By the way, while you probably know this Bryan, others may not get the distinction...the reason I chose that analogy above is that arithmetic mean is an attempt to determine the answer to the question: "If all quantities had equal value, what would that specific value have to be in order to achieve the same sum?"