I had a hunch someone assembled it wrong.Since I'd already removed and re-packaged the lock I was replacing with this one, to return the other to the store,  didn't want to hassle a return this one, I took a gamble on my hunch that someone installed one piece wrong (the axle 180° off), and I might be able to fix it. 

It's a much safer gamble to make.Plus, if Sacramento ever pulls off a high-speed rail of some sort that could get you from Sacramento to San Jose in an hour, the real estate market here would completely EXPLODE!!!!

If you're looking at $50,000 or more in capital gains, it might be worth the gamble of not finding a suitable property. 

This was a known risk you build into your numbers and now you wait and see whether your gamble pays off or not. 

I can't imagine the bank wants to hold this property, or that anyone else is willing to take a gamble for much higher then I am willing to go with all the unknowns attached to the home. 

Consult your real estate attorney ...Also, see the article Vincent G. linked to.... or gamble your freedom and your investment portfolio. 

If you buy bad deals hoping the area will appreciate, you're still gambling (pardon the pun!)  

@Roman Bulgakov - I'm glad you re-ignited this post.

I assume as well that the less you do yourself and can rely on a company to do that for you the more money you give to those agents...Any way, there are things I am comfortable with doing myself, insurance, legal and tax, but contracts are a gamble wherever you are haha. 

You are doing a gamble play that value add and rent increases will eventually get the asset cash flowing.If it doesn't you just are trapped in a tax write off property.Some investors love speculating but I am not one of them.