Insurance would cover it, I would pay the deductible, and no assets would be lost.If you are in an area like San Diego where people are more likely to sue, a judge is more likely to find you guilty, and the payout is expected to be higher, you may consider an umbrella insurance policy.

Some people like to live at a higher standard of living than others . 

:) The hardest part about flipping in Tampa is the higher cost to enter the game here. 

If I am starting out as a real estate investor interested in being a rental landlord (still working out the main type of rental I want to work with), can I refinance the house with a higher rate and make it a rental to my husband as my first rental?  

So spending the additional money to convert a property in my area is never worth it.I mention this, because if you goal is higher returns on your investment, I would make sure the financials actually align before you even begin to get to the technical components.

.- It seems that their prices are substantially higher than what would normally be charged for the same services.

When we were selling any of our props if we felt we had one of those individuals ( most of my stuff was props  bought at courthouse and would sell as is) EM would be 5 to 10X higher other wise we would not take their offers..

My A class that I own I self manage I have a RE agent that puts them up they find a tenant I require 700 plus fico so that weeds out 90% of renters and then I set them up on auto pay and if they have an issue we send handyman.. to be fair my units are basically new construction and townhouses in HOA's in the Desert ( vegas) so there simply is not a lot of maintenance. there is A class in every city its just that investors get so focused on  positive cash flow they dont buy those for rental purposes so they miss out on the best rental tenants.. the higher the cash flow on paper the lower the quality of the units.. its a fact..

Rates will be a bit higher and amortizations likely lower, but there's no such strict limit with them. 

I've had several bids, all much higher than the original, unrealistically low contract price, with of course a lot of variety in the price, experience, and track record of various builders.