You'll be partially covered if the tenant does something that destroys your property.As others have said, liability insurance is essential.

My first guess is that the pipes froze and totally destroyed the house.

Did you contract require the buyer to pay for any insect destroying inspection, if so, where's the receipt, was it done, were the terms of the contract accomplished?

But that's just a hope.I've had tenants completely destroy carpets after only two years.

it was just dirt - so nothing could get broken, stolen or destroyed.

You aren't going to find anything for $20K unless it's completely destroyed, most lots around here are $30K.

Vacancy destroys yield and increases risk.One other computation I do that most do not.

Have seen sky high interest destroy the market and vacancies that last for months.Most foreclosures here are judicial that have a right of redemption period so buying these are a little bit of a hassle.

Its cheap and almost can't be destroyed.

Mostly because tenants can destroy anything, even ceramic tile.