There is no 100% guarantee out there.Managing your property properly and having great insurance are probably the two best ways to protect yourself.

So you could form a partnership but it would not be allowed to purchase the property, so you will not be fully protected legallyThanks for clarifying that they're not a first time buyer program, I am not sure why I had that confused.

If you’d been holding around $620K from a 2019 sale and directed it toward a few properties like that.. especially if you leveraged financing.. you might’ve grown your portfolio’s total value well beyond what many Los Angeles holdings would have delivered over the same period.Then again, L.A. still has that unique mix of robust demand and limited supply.. from what I’ve heard, you can see impressive long-term gains there if you’re comfortble navigating tenant protections.

But it's difficult for me to just hand over money to someone I've never met, when I have so many friends (and have read so many stories here) who have been ripped off by contractors.How can I protect myself?

If it is returned in full, the pref equity will receive their accrued pref before common equity receives their accrued pref + share of profits.So, common equity has "unlimited" upside but really no downside protection.

That's a way to get both anonymity and liability protection.

Pay special attention to #4 and #5.An LLC is useful for two things: anonymity and legal protection.

The big one to read up on is the NYS Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. 

You feel you have to rebut my comment to bolster/protect your business that’s fine, but I would suggest you steer clear of exposing client financials unless your in the business of fighting legal suites rather than real estate. 

Generally speaking solid insurance and a good umbrella policy will provide ample financial protection for most liabilities.