Speaking strictly from a claims standpoint, (if you had a loss that you needed to file a claim) the umbrella would likely be the better option, as sometimes something that may be denied under your liability policy may be  covered under an umbrella policy.

Thanks Jon, that's what I thought.I'm in a non-real estate partnership out of state (CA) and it's involved.I'm silent, passive partner, still one day in CA triggers more.I would assume I would still file with a loss to have the loss carry forward documented.

I like 5+ units simply because of the economies of scale that makes use of property manager more feasible, especially when you want to be hand off on the property management side.Himanshu

Look into the rates in the area and see if that just might tip your profit and loss statement in your favor.

Down here the law says the landlord must mitigate damages from loss of rent if a tenant jumps ship.

Depending on the individual and company adjusting the loss, that could end up being very little.  

Because your basis is $50,000, you actually have a loss (the selling costs), so you would have no income tax.  

I am at a loss! 

this would give the compressor a direct link from the garage to the house. some electric motors ( which this compressor has) can force a back feed as though it were a generator. this would cause the compressor to back feed directly into the main panel and overload the whole house without passing thru the main breaker in the main panel. we could have a twofold problem here. a defective compressor and a direct ( wrong wired) connection. in any case, this tenant had no business messing with the electrical system of your house and could have cost you the house and perhaps some lives. this would be grounds for me to evict or not renew the lease. if there were no problems prior to this, the loss of his tv sets are his fault not yours. throw the bum out and for safety sake, have another electrician check things out completely

If you want to keep buying and are concerned about qualifying, the key is to not show a loss on the sch.