She got to talking with the sister, and it turned out the host's sister had to pay for her own ticket, pay for her own hotel, and seemingly her flight as well - to an event where her sibling stood to make tens of millions.This prospect decided then and there that this was a bad indication of the host's character.

An investor stood up and gave a pitch of his deal in an area I knew.

He stood up in front of the class, looked at some of the guys we all just knew were going to be Enron-style executives, and said these words which have never left my head:"In the long run, bears will make money.

And it may end up being cheaper (relatively) to just remove the top of the roof and put in new trusses, joists, insulation, duct work and reroof.

But, it's a good thing I am a "nerd", because my interest in machines and buttons, and what makes things tick saved me thousands of dollars in the long run)This business is a business of people management, evictions, damages, court scenes, proving you are right in court, and having the proof and evidence to back up what you say.With that in mind, and me being my own attorney in court, I found the following useful "Technology" that enabled me to never lose a case in my 13 years as a landlord.The following is what Technology did for me, that helped me in all phases of this business.QuickBooks:  Kept track of all my tenantsKept track of all RepairsWhat tenants owedHow much each tenant paid in Security DepositsWhen I purchased a rentalHow much it costHow many square feetWhen I sold itFor how muchProfit and Loss Report to see where I stood financiallyHow much money I owed to my VendorsAnd everything I wanted to know about my tenantsNextI had Vonage Phone (An internet phone) that did the followingActed as an Answering ServiceKept track of the date and time the call came inCould view the call in audio and in written form on my computerCould print out the message and take it to court with meKept track of the date and time I called someone Allowing me to print this out as well if I needed it for courtNextStamps.comThis kept track of every piece of mail I mailed outThe day and timeThe person I sent it tooAllowed me to print out a report if I had to take it to court for evidence; And it served as a proof of sendingNextPrinterComputer/laptop (in my case if it had keys or a laser pen, I had it. 

One final thought, more for the benefit of your readers than you because it appears that you've already replaced your roof, always make sure whoever does the roof know where and how to walk on it before they just start prancing around breaking those already very skimpy and flimsy trusses. 

Blue Island stood on the southern end of an ancient glacial ridge five miles long. 

A few things that stood out to me:-  No Deductible. 

I stood to make $2,000 to $4,000 on this deal. 

However, one stood out.