For example what does the General liability cover and what is excluded.

Most people I know who are doing this are buying for under $40,000/door (exclude California and New York).The bigger question though is what type of apartment investor do you want to be?

The agencies will exclude the tax liens and civil debt'a if report's don't include a consumers name, address & social and or date of birth.

If anyone thinks that excluding a criminal history in a background check is a good idea then you are welcome to deal with this clown.

If you want a good degree excluding real estate get something in engineering. 

But the moment I buy my first rental I've excluded at least one other person from being able to do that. 

The "one constant" you referred to (of "people looking to add more properties or refinance properties for cash to buy more properties etc.") specifically excludes those who HAVE turned off the purchasing tap and ARE snowballing their debt down - and who therefore don't have any use for "bigger pockets" any more!

It would be great if there were no snake oil salesmen and you could trust everything you read online, but it just isn't the world we live in, so due diligence is the price you pay for a successful passive investment.A few general notes: Steer clear of anything that guarantees tenancy terms (can't be predicted or promised) or excludes any expenses in their ROI calcs.

In the last 10 years I have replaced one stove, one dishwasher and two refrigerators across all of our rentals (excluding buying new appliances for rehabs that had none).

You need to determine if you wish to exclude them or not.