I will never forget that in this site on several occasions I heard a member insisting that section 8 rentals needed animal cages.

Mark Forest We always include a deposit, some times very substantial, never cash, usually a personal/business check and on some occasions a cashiers check. 

I've read (in many of my books) to not expect or rely to make money on appreciation, that is far riskier that most RE investors enjoy as an added plus in some occasions.

I think there has only been 2 or 3 occasions where I have been on the hook for the trash bill and I just took it out of the tenants security deposit.Our logic is:#1.

On occasion we do some general contracting work but not that often.  

On more than one occasion a place that looked fairly well kept turned out to have some serious damages that I overlooked.  

You'll need it when the occasion to commit into RE investment is right.

mountainjoepa:She's already borrowed from her 401k previously on 2 different occasions.

That's not even taking into account the looses the Stock Speculators take.That's when the "Powder Dry" "Keep my feathered numbered for just such an occasion" people come in looking for "Deals" on the cheap.Lets see how the Fannie Large Multi-family loans go--they are supposed to be "Toughened" against this scenario compared to the last crash by added requirements.

Marc, depending on the deal, on a number of occasions I've bought properties with private (hard) money loans, held them for 6-18 months and then refinanced with bank financing.