Houses were just a natural outreach for me, I guess.

That's why I used USDA $1000 down to have some skin in the game covered the home inspection and used a decent real estate attorney that only gets paid IF I close. if I do not close she does not get paid this is helpful if you do not have a lot of money.

Generally, the nature of income as active or passive does not change depending on how you own it but how you create it.

Have any of you experienced similar unexpected or unexplained expenses of this nature? 

We've currently got, which I can imagine most others do, the mechanical timer where the lights will come on at a certain time and off at a certain time.What we'd love to do is have essentially is a timer that measures natural light and comes on and off when there is low light.

On the other hand, experiencing a natural disaster can be very damaging and an insurance policy can save the day...but does it really?

So naturally am I afraid of buying at the "wrong time?" 

They don't have any skin in the game, they can do whatever they want 

I tried everything Home Depot had as well as the natural stuff found at pet stores and on line.  

Naturally I'm more than willing to pay the security deposit back just to get past this and move on with my life, as this is not really worth fighting over, however the attorney is asking $1,500 in legal fees so the total amount they're willing to settle without going to court is just below $3,000.