Dogs that chew can destroy just about anything.  

Why would you bother with Detroit when the Florida market is pretty much destroyed - and people actually want to be in Florida (even if it is just the crazies).Or you could buy property in the cold north where no one wants to live in a Democrat hell hole.

It's a cheap way to learn, but can also be a costly way to learn.In a bad area, you can be 4 days from completion on a rehab and have a vandalism break in that destroys the home.Obviously there are plenty of ways to counteract almost anything (security, insurance, leave windows boarded til very last second during rehab, etc) but for me it's not worth it to work in very rough areas for any reason.  

Even in some cases where existing duplexes were present, it may not be permitted to build additional or to even rebuild existing, such as if one were destroyed by fire.

I will also do a periodic inspection of both units to get a new baseline of the property condition and to have "eyes" on the ground to observe what is occurring.If they share with me that something is occurring that is a danger to a person's personal safety or property is being destroyed, I tell them to immediately call 911 while such is occurring and followup with a call to me.

A fellow landlord failed to keep property insurance on his LLC and one of his units sprung a leak and destroyed my unit underneath his... the damage is extensive and he mentioned possibly just signing the title of his unit over to me...Is a short sale the best way to go about this kind of transaction?

If depreciated over 5 years, in addition, if they do move out in a year and we have to replace it again (since they have pets and smoke) - do we just depreciate the remaining four years all at once since it's destroyed?

If you do that right and actively manage your properties, there should be very little risk that vacancies will destroy you.

They are less likely to do something shady if another realtor is witness, because it can destroy their reputation.

There is 600 sf of space unaccounted for that you might have to destroy.