I chose to stay in the Dallas/Ft Worth area because I knew it and I could get to just about anywhere in the world in 2-3 hops with most major financial cents a direct flight. 

The developers created Santana Row by taking inspiration from European cities with retail at ground and residential on the higher levels.

remember the words last recession were voiced " mortgage backed securities that were sexily sold to european countries.....now imagine this is my speculative mind at work but given the fact large hedge funds bought massive homes for a reason. well imagine a repeat in the rental market if this occurs and we know eventually it is a matter of when will they dump their portfoliosBP can help with the tremedous information they provide here and on podcasts 

Out of curiosity, where are your European properties?  

I built one in Palo Alto in 1988.. for instance.It was modular built very high end built in a factory in Lincoln CA.. with all European parts ... it was freaking awesome nothing could touch it.

It also seems like most major repairs that might come up can wait for a few months, so that a percentage of reserves could be kept in a CD or something similar, with a penalty for early withdrawal the worst-case scenario.

After World War I, America required that European debtors pay their debts in gold.

I'm not familiar at all with European markets but I wish you luck in all your endeavors.

Paul,That also occurs in France (Paris), and other European countries, where the families pay an annual maintenance (COA fees ?)

Most major investors require you to hold the loan for a certain period of time for a few reasons -buys them time to sell your loan on the secondary market -bankers lose their commission if a loan is refinanced with another investor/lender within that 6 month period -required vesting is part of federal regulation  that keeps an individual from essential making a living by doing constant cash-out refis -if you refinance or pay off the loan in the first 6 months, typically you will not incur any pre-payment penalty..but the bank does and it eats that cost-required vesting allows you to establish payment history that shows on credit 3.