Zestimate values can be manipulated by the owner and are otherwise based on tax assessment, which is public record.

Thats what I see most of the time.You are not doing something wrong you are trying to protect yourself and to avoid any title problems in the future.Basically you are buying the property that simple.I'd call the county clerk and ask about which site to use to search the records...that way you can do your own search not saying professionally but at least sometime you can find some liens on any property interested in like labor liens, child support, abstract judgments...etc could save you some time and $$$ by filtering your targeted properties before doing the title search through title abstractor.Some times I offer the former owners some time to leave like few weeks so I dont need to pay them alot and get them sign a short term lease with zero rent with waving their rights to fight any eviction and giving me the right to get the writ of possession right a way once the short term lease ends without giving them any eviction notice.Hope that helps.Good luck to all

In which case, your extra money might be better deployed into getting more deals.Actually, that would be my suggestion - pay the highest interest rate (for the ones above 5%) till you bring it to the point the principal/interest ratio is substantial (like 80%/20%) and then stop - the note itself will act as asset protection.

I thought about all the post on BP and wisdom handed out by people who have done this longer than I have and I had firmly decided despite my desire to not be a "jerk landlord" I had to protect my property and confront this tenant. 

I can see that though warning other landlords though for sure.. of a potential dead beat tenant that has a nice public assistance ring to it..

If you're saying such clauses are against public policy or against local law that is a different argument.

She sounds like a great tenant and I'm sure nothing bad will come from  you helping her out but you want to make sure you're protected.

I'm not guaranteeing I'll do one, as I want to protect my guys (and my reputation with them) from crazy jobs or unrealistic property owners.

ANYONE who advertises in a public median is NOT a private lender they are in the business and therefor a Hardmoney lender.. 

A couple of other 'side benefits of hold in retirement accounts are that in general those accounts are more protected in bankruptcy or lawsuit cases, and if a person has college aged kids assets in retirement accounts are not counted towards financial aid calculations in many cases (but not all).