There is a REX meeting at the BP Energy Center at 6:30pm on this coming Tuesday.  

We want to retire in a few years from our jobs and invest 100% of our time and energy in Real Estate investing.

I found this to be my problem, so I bit the bullet, and got my license AGAIN (2nd time). 

Texas has the other interesting problem of the energy economy, particularly out west.Another option you can throw to the owners is that they seller finance and stay as the tenants for awhile.

Firstly, as a realtor myself I would like to thank you for considering the time and energy your broker/agent is giving you.

I think the first step for me will be to just kindly ask the tenant to be more considerate of the amount of energy they're using...

This is what makes this very tough for a homeowner to buy something to live in. as they get lazer focused and it never goes to sale. they waste time and energy chasing it.And if its LA if there is any equity at all you will have massive competition..For due diligence simply order a preliminary title report for a few hundred and that will tell you the story.. some auction sites will publish the TSG  but not all.good luck

Okay...okay...yes I'm seeking the silver bullet...but that aside I would appreciate your collective insights!  

It said "Sorry I can't vote for this post, I have run out of bullets for the day" That is when I first noticed and figured out what is happening. 

 :)It's the last bullet on this page:http://www.suncommunities.com/RentaHome.aspxBasically like a Christmas savings account being funded from a portion of the normal rent.If you take Frank's boot camp (the above mobilehomeuniversity URL) or get on the free forum at that URL and ask about how some operators convert park owned to tenant owned.