@Daniel Dietz I really like the idea of building in the 1% per month incentive, it helps make the lender feel more comfortable and gives me some built in wiggle room if I need to extend the time a little (not for too long though!)

Tell the tenant they need to pay by a date you feel comfortable with and stick to it(Fri or Mon would be best).

After speaking with an attorney and reading this guide, I feel comfortable with the situation.

@Rodney Kuhl , if you're comfortable with the size of the investment, I definitely recommend not a SFR or duplex, but a fourplex!

Tell them $100K liability is good if they feel comfortable it will cover all of their assets.Thanks again.- Dave

My personal opinion is to grow your portfolio elsewhere, then once you are comfortably wealthy come back and buy your beach house!!

We have lots of aged building stock here - Victorian or older - that can often be found at relatively descent prices due to the fact they are energy pigs.While it is true that a kitchen or bathroom installed today will be a 20yr old kitchen or bath when it comes time to sell, adding insulation, improved electrical, plumbing, ventilation ... all those "under the hood" type of renovations will bring comfort and health benefits to your tenants and operational benefits to your bottom line.

To start it will be a 4wheel drive Ford Expedition but future plans are to have a much more accessible mobile unit to seat all parties involved!

In practice, I have been doing both (1) and (2), and attorney is comfortable with (2), though I know that Bill doesn't like the approach, and he makes some good points.

The only idea I'd have would be to contact the current owner, who may or may not be very excited to discuss the auction where he's going to officially lose his building, but the current owner is actually someone we know, not real well but more like a friend of a friend and I just don't feel comfortable approaching him about this building he's about to lose.