I fired them last year.I just opened my mail to find a notice from a COLLECTION AGENCY stating I owed them money.

sale Lessons learned?

The lessons you learned the hard way in 2008 will be invaluable now, and it’s great that you’re aiming to stay small-scale and within your comfort zone of Sacramento, which gives you an advantage of knowledge in that market.Given your experience, I'd say start by focusing on three key areas to build confidence and minimize risks:Budget Control: Over-renovating was one of the big mistakes you mentioned.

Learning a lesson for all of us!

But since I am in the fire area of Altadena I will be very busy rebuilding houses for the next decade for me "day job".

Take it with a grain of salt as safety is subjective.You could also ask your Realtor and property manager their thoughts and maybe next time they are in the area to take photos.

I left the meeting on FIRE to start implementing. 

The house caught on fire 3 months later.

This is a lesson learned for me - I know to look for "missing" rooms for this now but I do feel that there was responsibility on your part as well.

Death, divorce, fire, home sale, floods,layoffs, etc.