In this particular case it was due to a fire and not a foreclosure but this home was producing income up until last year. 

Or leave a post-it on the door that says "I want to buy your house Call me @ xxx-xxx-xxxx" It may be hard to find the phone number without paying for some sort of service and direct mail takes multiple touches to multiple prospects to get any real results. 

While I know many people do this with their rental properties, I am wondering if anyone has had any horror stories as a result of doing so?  

Thinking that the moisture was a result of badly prepped work, we had professionals take out the floorboard, prepped the concrete, added assailant chemical and installed an epoxy coated floor about 6 weeks ago.We came back yesterday and saw bubbles in some parts of the new floor, mostly in the same spot where the wooden floor had buckled, but also in other areas where the floorboard seemed to be ok before.

It is always sad to see the result of a poorly maintained and managed property.

Those defaulted loans will result in foreclosures and those have already been entering the market.

Like you as a mortgage underwriter, I have many years of experience being a professional supporting real estate investors as a CPA, but I now wanted to become a real estate investor myself.In late November of last year, like you're doing this November, I wrestled with the question of investing locally with a 4-unit purchased with FHA financing vs. investing out-of-state and got a lot of great advice.Like you, my goal is to retire within the next 10-15 years via real estate investing.As a result of some of the advice I've read through the forums (I would recommend you pay attention to guys who have been in real estate for decades like @Jay Hinrichs rather than the younger folks who are often just pushing their turnkey products) and speaking to investors at local real estate groups, I decided that given my place in life I would be wiser to place my bets on California appreciation over the next 20-30 years rather than investing in some beat-down property in Cleveland for an extra $400 or whatever in cash flow per month.Given the facts that (1) I could get into a property for a measly 3.5% down, which would free up cash to invest in other places if I so chose, (2) I was already throwing away rent every month such that I could still be cash flow negative of $650/month (what I was paying in rent) and still be better off because a portion of my monthly payment would be building my equity and the rest would be tax deductible, and (3) I'm in my 20s and have the time to take a long-term view of appreciation potential, it was a no-brainer to go the FHA 4-plex route in LA, despite the fact that it is one of the most expensive markets in the country.This isn't to say that the process was easy.  

In order to be "impenetrable", your "veil"(s) must properly established and properly maintained.As for burden vs benefits, let's see here...Maintenance: $800/yr or somewhat more.Lawsuit resulting in judgement against you: potentially $MillionsDunno, guy.

The owner of the home and landlord, Tomas Arnaiz, has been charged with producing obscene materials, reproducing child porn, and filming a minor.

Which method results in a more meaningful returns metric?