To help prevent it from happening again you can ask the water company to send you a copy of the water bills.  

I did replace brakes after driving it about 10,000 miles, mainly because I was using the truck to tow a chipper... so more preventative maintenance than anything. 

If you buy a HUD home, are there any legal stipulations that would prevent you from turning it into a rental, or anything else that would hinder an investor?

Haven't "had" to do it, but it anything that attracts a renter is a good thing.Installing the blinds helps to prevent the tenant from having to hammer in little nails and hanging sheets over the windows, which I guess is okay but looks totally ghetto.

What would you do if you were to explore this option and how would you prevent yourself from being burned?

Times have changed, and there is a great misalignment of interest in the landlord industry with that of the investor, but if you look closely enough, you will find that the roots run deep, and straight to our friend Jesus

He has written rules into our by laws preventing moving kitchen and bathroom plumbing.

So addressing it up front prevents that from being you.

That would prevent an exchange into REITs.However, it's possible to exchange into Umbrella Partnership Real Estate Investment Trusts upREITs.

But she said the seeds for the current lack of housing took root long ago, and more than one kind of garden tool will be needed to dig them out.