This, I believe is fundamental human nature; a deep yearning.

The thing that worries me about TX is the high property tax, high insurance rate, and higher risk for natural disaster.

When a nominal transfer occurs there may or may not be transfer taxes due - it depends on the nature of the transfer, at least in the state of PA.

What would you recommend if the project was bigger in nature - as in rebuild the whole house.

He's using Timberline Natural Shadow Shakewood.

You can back out based on the Transfer Disclosure Statement; the Natural Hazards Report, the Preliminary Report, etc.

I could replace it with a natural gas one, but I'm concerned about safety issues.

See the following light reading in well versed IRS speak:http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/0345022.pdfCode section 1.103-8(b)(5) in summary says that a residential rental project must be open to the public to be considered residential rental property.Code section 1.103-8(b)(4) states that a residential rental property can not be transient in nature and must meet open to the general public.I won't bore you with all the details.Some interesting situations that come up due to the code.

Naturally this is essentially the same thing as owner financing--just without a price and interest rate defined.This particular house was $695/month and I would guess the investor's cost basis is in the region of $20k.

Another issue is the business nature of your activities, are you in the business of doing this or that or are you truly investing for youself, is a question you need to address when figuring out if you need a license.