My very 1st tenant, as I was resisting becoming accidental landlord, I rented to friends of family a rent to own contract for deed where maintenance was all on them.

@Rigo MonzalvoFunctionFire resistant walls provide sufficient time to discover a fire, control it and evacuate the building if necessary.

@Tony StewartTough to implement on a cash flowing property because of owner resistance to the concept.

If you go with a weather resistant siding like vinyl or hardy board you could potentially never touch them again.

Was there a lot of resistance or red tape from the tax assessor's office or whoever handles refunding the overages, or did a government agent start investigating you as potentially gaming the system?  

I always hear people saying, "I wish I would have started investing in real estate earlier," so I am trying to find the path of investment that provides the least resistance.

It has recession resistant employment as it is great at everything but a master of none. 

I am semi interested in determining if buying flood prone land for cheep and completing flood resistant homes (on high piers) is a viable strategy.

The day before that I was trying to finish Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, which I had begun to read as the first book on my path in real estate but I had to put down because I couldn't resist the temptation to read the best book thus far....

You want the overall product to look good, but have to resist "scope creep" firmly.And always leave budget for "unforeseen"....it always shows up.Good luck!