However, we're playing defense now unless the deal is too good to pass.  

Your only real defense in any business from getting scammed is an education and experience.

All the legal “theories” about why it was “illegal” and voided any enforcement of the note was just pure garbage......promoted by foreclosure defense attorneys, along with all kinds of other bogus “defenses” so they could collect large fees from homeowners fighting foreclosure.....all the while the attorneys knowing these defenses were bogus, knowing they would never win, but it gave them a way to sell their services to desperate homeowners.Here in FL it was an ever changing shift in new “marketing theories”........”show me the note” “invalid assignments”, “FL 5 year Statute of Limitations”, etc.Yes, there was a lot of sloppy work by banks and their foreclosure attorneys, and some improper short cuts....robot signing, etc.  

They defensively argue with the SS loss mit rep when the SS lender attempts a commission-ectomy instead of negotiating from a position of strength.

When we called him out on the mistake, he got very defensive, made up a horrible excuse for why it took two weeks to get the second appraisal, and basically said, “I don’t really care what you think, I’ll schedule the closing for whenever I feel like it.â€Well, it pissed us off, but given that we thought we’d close the following week, we didn’t want to do anything drastic, and let it be.Once the second appraisal was completed, the broker sent the information to the Department of Transportation to have it processed so they could cut the buyers a check (the buyer’s are getting their down-payment from the DOT because of some weird eminent domain situation).

Crime is 1/3 the national average, property taxes are 49th in the country (making your ROI better than most states), median home cost is better than almost anywhere else, and median income is among the highest in the country because of all of the R&D jobs in science, technology, aerospace and defense industry.Huntsville is a primary nuclear target, so if you worry about that diversification is a great idea, but you can inspect every property, have oversight on construction and property management, and get off market deals more easily.  

There's no chance to play the "ignorance" card if they ever find out and you'll have very little defense if they want to penalize you to whatever extent they are able. 

Just the one thought that "that's what everyone does" isn't a very effective defense if/when things go bad.  

@John WoodrichBest defense strategy is a multilayered one. 

In football, each play is a plan, but there are different options, depending on what the defense gives you.