If you're interested in finding areas to target that you'd want to live in and also be able to rent out, let's connect.

And frankly, if I were a young artist faced with the prices here I would probably either move to a city like San Francisco or Seattle where there would be more established artistic outlets, or go to a place that had a considerably lower cost of living and a burgeoning creative scene (..Detroit?)

They usually go to every outlet to check continuity and they would have (maybe should have had) the prior floor plan, at least the footprint, inspecting plugs that weren't suppose to be there...in other words. ???

Just starting out and I have this idea that purchasing a town home from a builder would make for a great rental.Pros:- reputable builder- growing area in west Ottawa- trendy, new outlets, lots of new development- attract high level tenant- good for buy&hold long term Cons:- wait for closing- might be tough to rent if cannot show- lose most profit as it goes to the builder- would need a larger than usual down payment (30-50% +) to cash flow *also I am completely new at this and only see it happening with a JV partner who provides the capital.Can this strategy work?

I've been doing a little bit of work such as helping my mentor with some minute contracting fixes on some of his properties (painting walls, changing electrical outlets, fence-building, etc.), putting out bandit signs in Santee, El Cajon, and Serra Mesa along with some posting on Craigslist.

Spell it out, let the chips fall where they may.

Unless there was fraud involved, at best you get a fee refund.Inspectors don't test and hunt down every outlet and wire in a house.

Your third option, being AirBNB or any other short term rental outlet, would be the most work, but would certainly work great to fill in any gaps you have left over after.

For example, I needed to pay to have an vent outlet altered when I had a furnace replaced.

My inspector gets on the roof and pokes at everything up there, tests the electrical from outlets and switches to the panel, tests the plumbing from the fixtures to the water heater to the incoming valves and conducts a full hvac inspection together with pictures of everything.There is nothing a "specialist" can do that your inspector can't do.