You missed the important one - Earthquakes - this is, in my opinion, the ONLY Macroeco item that could devistate a RE market.

If there was no earthquakeI suspect 99.99 percent of folks would choose option a.Does that mean people like earthquakes because earthquakes make people feel safer?

Probably less meth and more immediate cash flow...Please don't think you could hard money these above and not be bk with that math either.Sure, other options in socal and other ways to buy...but not normally and will not trump cash offers.In socal, the saying it takes money to make money holds true.Wait for the earthquake, you can get some real deals then.

As Ali & Kevin said a form 3 is the route you will want to go, which covers most perils (minus flood & earthquake) for replacement cost.

I know people doing well on multi's in Little Havana, Little Haiti, SF's in Carol City, North Miami, etc.

Hey Stephanie, if you have never done this before, I would strongly urge you to consult a real estate attorney, because from some past dealings, it isn't just the sales agreement that is important, but all the disclaimers pertaining to abestos, earthquake zone, fire zone, landslide zone, visual inspection forms, smoke detectors etc etc, that shields you from liability and needs to be signed by both buyer and sellers.

Logistical nightmare.Also sold some single wides across the pond...but when the buyer did the math and found that we would be spending more to ship than the home cost, it was cancelled.We do ship SIPanel homes to Haiti in a container and then put them together when we get down there (going again in 2 weeks).

I've seen some really out of wack expenses for salaries of staff, earthquake insurance, etc.Look at the reserves.

Apparently you have to have a certain robustness to your builds around here due to hurricanes, earthquakes, and salt air, so I am thinking the foundation is probably fine.

I was born in Haiti and raised in CA.