An LLC does not protect you, as manager, from criminal conduct.

My only caveat that I'd like to share per my broker is that listing agents tend to underestimate operating expenses so if you're planning to conduct a transaction without buyer representation, make sure you know how to properly analyze the property on your own.  

You may sell any kind of real estate held for productive use in business trade or investment and purchase any other kind of real estate to be held for productive use in business trade or investment.Residential rentals exchanged for real estate used to house and conduct your business would qualify.

Taking a down payment, taking rents, hoping or diverting a buyer to failure, talking the property back, then rinse and repeat as Lonnie use to say is illegal conduct now!  

I am currently combining a HELOC with hard money to conduct a flip.

Many transactions are hammered quietly too, do this or else and the accused party does that instead of getting hammered publicly.Ethics is not what an individual might define for themselves, it is a standard of conduct accepted in an industry that allows limited deviations from the norm.

@Dean HulsingOnce you understand the environment in which the business operates (local tenant population, average rents, physical and economic vacancy rates, the growth / decline of the local economy, the risk of the local economy (i.e. does most of the tenant population work for a single (cyclical, declining, growing) employer)), then you can compare the business (property) to its peers and evaluate its shortcomings and potential.After the above, you should be able to put a value on the business and, if it looks to be a profitable, long term venture, issue a Letter of Intent (LOI) with your offer and deal framework,  If accepted, you then dig-in and conduct the formal diligence.

Unless the sale was improperly conducted, the bank doesn't have a legit reason to cancel.

References and background checks should be conducted on all employees.

Conduct lease audit and make sure all documents are there (application, lease, proof of income, proof of payments for security deposit etc.)