The reality is once you become a REI you are advertising your wealth, and you will be sued at one point.

I agree with Jay Hinrichs - this may sound great but reality is will it get implemented.

This why vetting upfront is so important.On the other hand, a larger contractor may have real assets in the company or even a reputation that they want to protect so they want to find away to avoid getting into legals which waste time and money for them.With respect to contract size, in reality anything under 100K is not worth a full blown lawsuit as the legals will eat you alive even if you win; small claims court may be your best bet if you are OK managing the process or maybe using a paralegal.On the emotional side, I strongly urge you to put that aside.

Problem is if you list too early, the listing goes stale and looks like it’s been sitting around for 30+ days when in reality there was a tenant in there.What is the optimal sweet spot for listing a vacancy?

The reality is probably closer to that number.Here’s why I say that.  

Ss I have gotten further into the project and I am seeing the reality of the numbers (including taxes), it has made me question if I would be better off to do a cash out refi at 6 months and then sell after the first lease ends to maximize the payout and reduce the taxes.

@William Jenkins, I understand your personal preference but you're making some pretty broad statements that just don't jive with reality. 

I'm not being mean here, this is just the reality of what people will be asking you.

I like using credit score, job stability and distance/type of commute(LA newbies think 14 miles is an easy commute, when in reality that could be 1.5 hours) public records check for evictions and criminal records and my personal interview with them.

The reality is that my LLC owns the property not me.