Not to me.True I am more 'invested' than one who just buys a business or paper security, but I can add value and have the satisfaction of ownership.  

Establish a security deposit5.  

This is similar to, but not the same as, the yield of beans in China, since China is the most populated nation on earth and the yield is much higher, (which is due to the poor air quality in China and why bean consumption is regulated) with the yield or output being much more concentrated over time.And, why hard money lenders usually don't chase tax liens in Texas, nor do they develop lists for investors to purchase with their funds as they rely more on the security interests in a property rather than a UCC filing.   

Once I felt comfortable enough I secured the property with a deposit and plan to take a day trip to visit it in person and meet the manager. 

@David Shapiro, It's not a taxable event because you are simply borrowing money secured by your property. 

Obviously we have been in touch with our lodger who filled us in on the scoop but I was surprised to find very little info on incarcerated California lodgers, does NoLo address this and in either case what are the obligations of the owner(s) who rented to the lodger who is now incarcerated indefinitely as far as security deposit, notification of repossession of rented premises, and the handling of personal belongings? 

Some items, like investment securities, were exempted from the beginning, but for the most part it would be very difficult for Congress to exclude all forms of tax free like kind exchanges without having structural consequences to the tax code.It may be possible that the NAR article was saying that real estate professionals may not want to bother with these deals.  

I have sought to get loans in one country to purchase in another but it is very difficult to get aproval for such projects without security in the country of the loan.Any thoughts on leverage regarding investing in multiple countries?

The loan is for 120k and rate 3.4....soo ~400$ a month diveded by 2 incomes isn't going to set off the alarms.

My research says I could go higher on rent and still not be at the area top for the quality of the unit, plus it includes W/D and alarm system with monitoring.