I am dealing with a complete pain in the butt with Brookhaven right now.

The classic screening error is to go for up front dollars only to have downstream pain.

I live down in LA, so I feel your pains on prices! 

[Newer investors may read about it in the FB news feed].Anyway, the assumption is that people remember things and learn from past behavior which lead to painful experiences, like high leverage and adjustable rate debt, for example. 

If, you got a steal of a deal and if it were to burn down you would simply clean up the lot and purchase something else down the block, Actual Cash Value might be a viable option.

Doing it a few months down the line will be more painful since they may think the threat of a change has passed.Good luck!

Scott, It may be a pain but narrow it down to 2-3 companies and visit their location and meet their staff.

I recommend you not block yourself off to a "price range" and look at your "goal".

I personally lived near 17th & Chanslor, a few blocks south of the Richmond BART station, with my blonde girlfriend, for just over a year, and neither of us ever had any issues.

Regardless of how you approach RE it is my opinion that it will serve as the building blocks to financial  freedom.