It doesn't cost me more than just a stamp.

If so, can I just create the contract myself and get a notary public stamp?

For all of my MA landlords and property managers, what are some ways to legally screen prospective tenants without losing your shirt in the process?

analysis  about smalls is losing $100 bills out of your shirt pocket while you reach down for nickels.

I almost didAnd then smartly decided not to as I'm losing my shirt on the current rehabs I'm into.Also was debating if it would take a credit hit right before I want to refinance.Some things to think about

I sent a certified letter with the papers for them to sign, along with a self addressed stamped envelope to the individual who paid the $2,500.

That's how I finally found the home I lived in, bought in for $200K that is now valued at $1.275 million.The irony was this house that I bought was built in 1986, completed at the market peak, and the builder lost his shirt, on my property, and another 3 next to it.

Unless the OP has massive experience buying 50k houses all over the country and then losing his shirt, I fail to see how he could accurately project that his California strategy is better than my Tennessee strategy. 

Stupid bidders who are willing to pay too much money for what they think is a good-looking property come, lose their shirts, and go, but the investor-contractor is a constant fixture at these auctions, an adversary who does not go away and just keeps showing up, ready to bid.Even worse, the investor-contractor is a known quantity.

I'm a t-shirt guy.