And very cool on the financial background...that will put you miles ahead in buying properties because you already know numbers.

One option that may work would be to go ahead and include water/sewer/sanitation in the lease but only up to a certain reasonable limit. 

It can also be used to help visualize any long lead time items that have to be purchase ahead of time.

Still, I think that I have learned a lesson which is - go ahead and make the offer even if it's less than their counter-offer.  

One has to build it from the beginning, and it may take some time for it to amount to some significant number to access these investment vehicles. 

Common here, septic tanks get a perc  test, water test the well at the well head or ahead of the pressure tank.

I believe the investment vehicle is an EIUL.

Don't get greedy, if you have the money, follow more of a management path, do ten deals a year for half the money, you'll do better than doing three trying to do more or everything.Your dad probably has a head for numbers, you concentrate on keeping the money safe he can see if things pencils out.

Eventually the sector/industry will mature, but these investment vehicles just aren't there yet.

I know of no other type of investment vehicle that would allow exchanges of like kind with no tax consequence.In summary, real estate investing is the easiest, safest and least time consuming (common man's) path to financial independence.