In the Sacramento area the best way to search for properties in a precisely targeted geographical area (that I am referring to here as a "mini market") is to have a local real estate professional build you something called a Client Portal.The Portal has a feature (not available to the public yet but capable of being created by a local real estate professional for their client) that lets one select an area drawn over the map with up to 6-8 sides that precisely outlines the area or areas within which you wish to search.They are free to set up, you can have multiple searches, and they are readily accessible 24/7.

So, what I heard from them was:1) i'd rather surf the Internet than protect my children from a dangerous, known hazard that you are trying to eliminate.2) I'd rather pay $200 more a month and get "free" internet that costs $50/mo.

I have never really received a clear explanation.I would assume they are to prevent some fraudulent activity that has been experienced in the past with refi cash outs, but the banks have seasoning issues to protect from that now anyway.

How can I protect myself against this possibility?

Public service should be an OBLIGATION but not a CAREER.

I checked the public records and the previous owner owes $519K in loans!

The IRS has a publication on Depreciation with a table that will tell you how to compute your first year depreciation based on the month you place the rental into service.

How can we protect ourselves from socialism?

Before the foreclosure bubble exploded, my network of mortgage/real estate friends were noticing that lenders were not filing/reporting NOD's so as not to impact their reserve requirements negatively, which concealed the extent of the problem from the public for some time.

Jeff by all means jump in the water, it's fine :mrgreen: just make sure you have your floaties on1st things 1st is if your new to the short sale arena I would maybe think about hiring a buyers agent to protect your enthusiasm.