@Ben Sears Ben, couldn't agree more!!

@Ben Kirchner not sure about landlord tenant in NC, but in Florida we issue a 7 day notice of non compliance with opportunity to cure .

@Ben Madeo you are correct on R18.

Ben, I looked into PenFed and they actually seem great!  

I like that he does not accept just anyone into his program and has a 4 part process to get through before he will even consider you which tells me he's nothing like the others.All other RE investor guru's will accept anyone willing to pay for their program and he doesn't do seminars to get as many students/interns as he can.  He

Great advice, I am using my licensed and insured electrician, and as @Ben Miller mentioned I will have them sign a liability waiver. 

Can he sell the property to his kids for less?

If you do something that is in poor practice, hiding faults, that can be seen as fraudulent acts and the issue of a contractor being liable for one year on work goes out the window, fraud may begin when it's discovered, so you need to stick to common practice.I agree with Ben, a thick coat or paint would probably do it and I don't care for painted brick either.

Originally posted by Ben R.: Can you leverage property that is in a trust?

Right now, (actually thanks to a comment that Ben Leybovich made on another thread), we have added Cincinnati OH to our list of potential cities to research.My question here is about Cincinnati - does the BP Nation have any recommendations on a good investor-friendly real estate agent in this area?