Considering the owner is currently distressed (not wanting to spend more to fix it up for listing on the MLS), I may be able to make it work at a reasonable price point.

If its the latter then I always caution people spending money to save some is not always a good strategy.

If you’d been holding around $620K from a 2019 sale and directed it toward a few properties like that.. especially if you leveraged financing.. you might’ve grown your portfolio’s total value well beyond what many Los Angeles holdings would have delivered over the same period.Then again, L.A. still has that unique mix of robust demand and limited supply.. from what I’ve heard, you can see impressive long-term gains there if you’re comfortble navigating tenant protections.

People who think they are going to spend a few hours per week and make a $1000 is not reality.

what is damage protection insurance? 

I've done this with my properties because I'm well known in my small town and don't want people to know what I own.LEGAL PROTECTION: By placing your assets in an LLC, you are legally separating them from your personal assets.

Good insurance, particularly with an umbrella liability policy provides very adequate protection on smaller assets. 

While many of these issues are important considerations and should not be ignored or overlooked, there are other more crucial criteria that you must question and evaluate first.The critical risk criteria that you must review and evaluate prior to making your final decision on which 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary to retain includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:Technical capability of the 1031 Exchange Qualified IntermediaryInternal processes and audit controls to safeguard your 1031 Exchange funds and assetsUse of Qualified Trust Accounts or Qualified Escrow AccountsDecision criteria and guidelines for investment of your 1031 Exchange fundsProtection from potential errors or omissions by the Qualified Intermediary (E&O Insurance) Protection from potential theft or embezzlement of 1031 Exchange funds (Fidelity Bond) An experienced and professional 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary will understand these concerns and should be happy to discuss these crucial issues with you.

Do not mix money and expenses, or it won't protect you from lawsuits as intended.

Hey Bigger Pockets community, I'm just starting out in Step 1 (get educated) on what I want to become a successful career in real estate investment.I also currently run an e-commerce business that is currently completely online, but would benefit from having a brick & mortar storefront, and I had an idea that maybe using the investment capital I'm looking to allocate into real estate into a commercial property my business can operate out of until I decide to sell the property in or rent it out to another business.I am obviously very naive when it comes to the complexity of any good real estate deal (especially commercial VS residential), but I'm hoping to spend as much time learning from everyone here who is on their journey as well.My main concern with the idea of buying commercial to operate my business out of it that I might struggle to rent it out afterwards and that there may likely be depreciation in the commercial real estate market over the next 5 years.I understand there is a lot of nuance depending on the local market but I'm guessing commercial is even less of a "safe" bet than finding a solid residential deal to leverage in some way.