The greater issue is, I do not want anyone to use cheap paint that is either environmentally unsafe, or does not last or is not as easy to wipe clean.In the end, he agreed to repaint the whole house at his cost when he end his tenancy and I insisted that he uses only the paint that I specified. 

Especially when people are more and more migrating to being energy conscious.

@Kay M.Make sure to get all of the correct environmental reports; starting with a phase 1.

So hear me out - I have a background in Environmental Engineering and sustainable urban development and looking for feedback on turning that into an asset for real estate investing.

We made a conscious effort to make the home feel reasonably modern, but keep some of the historic charm, which is appropriate for this neighborhood.

Tax buying varies buy state and process and interest rate and many other things have variables.Just like anything else there is competition.There are plenty of properties you DO NOT want to buy tax liens on.These are properties in a bad area where over a years time when you redeem could be worth less than the value of what you are foreclosing on.The counties and cities just want money and will sell you a tax lien on anything even if it's a drainage ditch with no value.You have to watch out for environmental and a host of other issues including taxes that were bought before yours.You can do well but just like anything else you have to research it and be smart about it.

I think that men are rarely conscious of these things, but nonetheless you're right. 

I figure my plan is, and has been for many, better than most...partly because it doesn't start with making a conscious decision to step into a boxing ring.

Ad to this the lack rental restrictions, environmental restrictions, land lord friendly eviction laws, and you get a market favorable to rentals and investment.I agree that we should not be seeing appreciation rates over 20% like we had in the past but for a city of 2 million we only have roughly 4,000 houses on the MLS market and have 4,700 under contract this month so less than 3 weeks supply of listings.  

There is still a housing shortage, but investors just need to be conscious of the market they are in & the demographics of the industries they are expecting renters and how severely they'd be impacted.