I wouldn't touch that with your ten foot pole!

[i]I don't know about pre or post permitting, but loose soil, whether dumped out of a truck or dug up and loosely spread, will compact about 10-15% (ie. 1.5" per one foot of thickness).

Michael Saunders is by far the largest brokerage for real estate sales in Sarasota, but I don't know if they are the best choice for renting and managing the properties.My other goals are more up your alley- I am looking to purchase a couple of small (8,000-12,000 square foot each) well located retail strip centers.

This is a 1200 square foot SFH ranch built in 1960 on a 3.5' crawl.

This list is based on the highest price per square foot for homes.

As for the rate of vacancies, its hugely dependant on the area and class of properties again, and whether or not you want to deal with government supported tenants (what you call section 8 in the US)- for me, in Japan, its a no-brainer, since they're nothing like yours in the US, but if that's where you plan to invest, you'd better give this some thought - these tenants will fill up your vacancies fast, but come with a whole unique set of issues.Totally with you on the leverage front, wouldn't touch a mortgage with a ten foot pole these days, seen too many smart individuals and savvy companies (and I'm not saying this with cynicism) get very badly burned with assumptions regarding appreciation, depreciation and amortization - to think the GFC is a once in a lifetime event and will never happen again is the biggest (and dumbest) gamble of all, in my perspective.The amount of time you'll spend on each property, again, is a direct factor of the class of properties and areas you invest in, and the quality of your chosen team, in particular your property manager.

You can then explain using the proper terms that you inspected the piers directlt below that doorway and they were on solid footings, that you checked the plub of each door jam and that the door frame was level and from that would assume the header was solid and the resulting crack was not due to any structural deficiency but could be from the expamsion and contraction of materials!

This should not be too big of an issue because many people do not want to move themselves in the winter months.Always look for ways to find a win win and that gives you the best footing going forward.

I feel as if he doesn't' respect me, so I have to put my foot down.

These will indicate differential settlement issues or frost heave under footings or slab edges.