At times, we have simply went across the street when one lender said no or gave us a high quote. 

Having rental property is not what determines if you are going to take standard deduction or itemized deduction.

So I may start giving them everything.I have another company I found that you can simply exclude the roof from the coverage. 

Who pays for maintenance is determined by the written contract between parties, not a list on the internet.

I've got one program that my fast flippers like for its 'no seasoning' requirement, and then a few 90-day seasoning programs that work really well also.Occupancy: some programs can refinance vacant properties, while others will simply need it to be leased prior to closing.

To lay it out as simply as possible: if there is a viable claim, a plaintiff's attorney will pursue it regardless of whether you are incorporated in Wyoming, you  believe you are hiding behind a management LLC or whatever other anonymity maneuver you believe is shielding you from liability.All a plaintiff's attorney needs is the deed holder name to file a claim and this is public record everywhere.

Beyond that, I simply avoid voluntarily putting myself in situations that might require a better than average likelihood of needing to defend myself or others. 

Ray you can still lend in CA you simply need a RE Broker to run the paper work for you so the state Is happy and they will usually want some sort of fee for their time and risk / effort.

I'd like to set up something that gives us an alert if someone is at a vacant property after-hours and to determine if a home is occupied without paying someone an hour round trip to find out (for the rare default situations).  

In order to facilitate a 1033 you would sImply use those funds to either rebuild on the land, or the replacement can be a new investment propert purchase.