That allowed me to dodge being punished by capital gains tax and walk away with a nice amount to play with.  

For your first one, you're going to want something relatively turnkey unless your background has been in construction or your are a glutton for punishment and want to jump right in and learn a lot of lessons all at once. 

. $250 a year is minimal but it would appear they are using fees and fines to punish investors or detour investor owners without formally passing a rental amendment.

Tax Court - Punishment by U.S.

If not, then I hope that your Contract is not too punishing if you end up not being able to close the deal, and you renegue.

@James WiseI don't agree with the idea of running a business  in a way that punishes people who apply for what I am offering.

In the end they traced it to this other person that didn't even live there.. but it was a nightmare..No good deed goes with out punishment. 

The logic being that if you worked with the lender on a short sale rather than trying to strategically default or otherwise be sneaky or irresponsible, that should not be punished the way a foreclosure or missed payments would/should be punished. 

I never got in trouble in the Marines but one of the primary punishments of the Marines, if you got in trouble or did something illegal, was to reduce your pay.

Options not punishment: They will eventually not pay, which will lead to eviction.