I wrote an article and posted to Bigger Pockets on partnerships.. you can find it here... http://www.biggerpockets.com/articles/1285-real-estate-investment-partnerships-making-them-work-for-you- If you need to learn how to better estimate repair costs check out the Rehabbers Lab in the events section.

My current work is as a laboratory manager for an in vitro fertilization lab--very interesting work!

Sometimes i'll sell my note because there are things that I know about the asset or the loan that cause me concern like, there is a toxic DDT landfill on the property or, the 4,000 square foot addition to the property wasn't permitted or, there is no certificate of occupancy or, there was a meth lab in the home or, there is a HUGE senior lien in front of me or, there is so much deferred maintenance that I couldn't ever expect to get my money back or, the well is dry and the cost of $20,000 to drill a new well is prohibitive or, there is an incurable defect, or there are huge property taxes or any number of a million other reasons why I'm willing to sell my note and get out of it by passing the nightmare on to another investor.Moral of the story is, unless you are buying in bulk and have the relationships and track record to support it and unless you have the capital and time and stomach to roll with the punches, a single note purchase might be biting off more than you can chew.

This actually reminded me of a great article City Lab ran this week.

The kind  of renter who won’t pay 3$ for a new smoke detector battery or a swap out a light bulb .my  black lab will leave our cool air conditioned house to go lay in the hot sun out on the deck !

I work in a lab setting though.

My mom along with several of our family members bought a medical lab she worked in that was owned by a big newspaper that was in financial distress, and they were selling their side businesses cheap.

I like combining Price labs with Enemy method. the price labs helps me get a high level overview and it also gives links to the properties. 

Or getting a call from your PM that the DEA just raided your rental because your gang-banger tenant turned it into a meth-lab and it will be 3 months before the place can be cleaned, detoxed, and rented again?

He apparently had a mobile lab and the cops pulled him over found stuff on the other guy and NEVER searched the van and found the lab.