My comments were geared toward the protections provided an investor after going under contract and prior to closing.  

(If you are out of state, you may seriously consider using a good property manager because of screening tenants, vandalism, squatting, and various other reasons -- they do protect your investment).

Hi Will in Chicago-Congratulations on having a paid off rental with 500K in equity.You are wondering what options may be available to put that equity to work and you are not interested in buying another traditional rental.One suggestion I would offer is to put some of the equity to work by becoming a private money lender partnering with an investor that would split the profits with you on short-term projects.You could turn that money over and over into the next project getting a higher return than the trapped equity and getting a lien position on the project property to protect your downside investing in a fairly passive way.To Your Success!

👏Regarding subcontractor contracts, it’s essential to have a well-thought-out document to ensure clarity and protect all parties involved.

When its included in a lease for real estate then the laws pertaining to residential rental security deposits in your state apply but when its separate you should have more leeway to get some additional deposit to protect you.

Lenders that don’t require an appraisal will perform a desktop appraisal but will typically have a very conservative view on the value of the property to protect the company’s investment.

A professional property manager should handle the heavy lifting, ensuring your investment is protected and profitable without adding stress to your plate.

The bottom line is this: Concealment is not asset protection, proper (time consuming and expensive, I know) management, and good, prudent, practices (ditto), WHICH ARE ADHERED TO, and insurance (expensive), are needed for asset protection.

Not sure I would invest in places without such protections as I see this on BP in a lot of places (i.e.

Hey Steven - An LLC is a solid choice for structuring your partnership since it offers liability protection and keeps things clean when splitting ownership and profits.