Even the most conservative investor could have found themselves in trouble.As to the inventory- I believe there are a lot of spotters out there for large institutional investors.

@Jay Hinrichs however I was referring to after you've zeroed in on a target as part of the DD process, the problem I see is if you've missed something for your spotter to ask/do, reliablity /knowledge / trust worthiness of job, etc I'm not sure if would be worth the extra fee(s) ( multiple visits, etc) to not have your own   eyes on ... execpt in thoses rare instances where it would be near impossible, time and/or cost prohibitive to do a sight visit  ( re:  out- of-state or sight unseen) I guess for me  It would have to be one of those "too good to be true" type of deals we've talked about: 1: 1 million lol

The FAA guidance requires a private pilot's license, a class two medical certificate, a spotter, flying no closer than 500' from a building or people, getting prior approval of all flights from 3 to 1 days prior to flight, etc.  

I would network on local meetups and events to see who has the best wholesale lists in the area and see if you can be a spotter for them.

The sales group has "spotters".

roof spotters is who I use if I need a "legit"  roof.. there's bunch of fly by night people out here.. but you get what you pay for.. 

I would monitor the MPLS shot spotter map to find places to avoid: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/statistics/...The fact that they have to update that map weekly tells you something about those areas....There are many people who invest in multi-family in MPLS to help you. 

I can give you the name of some good spotters. if you end up having to seal the subfloor use the attached photo.

Also as a landlord you should know that there are spotters out there.

I know that sounds counter-intuitive but "hot spotters" are looking for "escapations."