While this isn't Sanibel, Matlacha, or FMB, the hurricane damage was no joke. 

This eliminates the problem of increasing your debt and damaging your credit score.

@Joe Gellenbeck Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a Class A property in Class D area, what quality of tenant will you get?

Lenders desperately need/want business especially in this interest rate environment (right now, the main source of mortgage loan business in Florida is rehab financing as a result of the hurricane damages) and one way the big players differentiate themselves is by streamlining the process.

Nice try, but this time does not count.In order to meet 750 hours, your wife will need one of the below:- do something else real estate related, like wholesaling or realtor- actively work on expanding your rental portfolio - have an extensive DIY rehab, like a month-long full-time rehab (and then she might need another kind of rehab)- a calamity such as multiple properties damaged in a storm where she will have to deal with insurers and contractors- something else out of the ordinaryAgain - if all you have is 9 single-family properties with stable tenants and typical occasional maintenance - you don't have enough work to collect 750 hours.

Plus, there was lots of damage in a short period of time from those instances.That's okay because I have great support from my property management company, PPMG.

Once again, Chris and the team communicated frequently about preparations and damage control.

@David YoungRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

When there is a sum of money in the bank, I’d rather buy another property than pay for fire damage, and I’m happier with the insurance coverage.  

The real estate investing industry uses "Classes" to rank property performance risk, but there's NO agreed upon industry model:(Here's what we use for our Metro Detroit market:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?