(he had opened up the breaker and hardwired it because he needed a higher voltage/different shaped outlet than was in the unit)So, that was a real screw up in terms of my judgment and jumping to conclusions, but thankfully had no financial consequences.

My natural conclusion is they are a colossal waste of money.

If you have a truly motivated seller, then after you educate them on how it will work, they come to the conclusion that it is exactly what they are looking for.TIP: you aren't going to be able to do these techniques very well if you are only looking at properties that are listed with an agent.

Living part time in AZ, having many friends and seeing the illegals in action, you're wrong on your premise and conclusion.

If you reach the conclusion you need ASSPRO right now, since you are from CA, you should look into DSTs - Delaware statutory trust.

I reached a conclusion that housing would not be going down for several years so I see now as the time to buy despite prices being so high. 

:(restraining the urge to jump to a conclusion) section 8 by chance?  

I have come to the conclusion that property tax on a 150k property should be around 2k annually.

This Trulia economist does say what he is basing his conclusions on (price versus fundamentals such as income, income growth, household formation and rents).  

where the data does not have to be perfect to come to some conclusions?