I used my low APR Frequent Flyer Miles credit card, got some miles out of the deal and paid one months interest on carrying the $22K.For  Superstorm Sandy it was a little different because the insurance money was coming from National Flood Insurance Program / FEMA.  

I used have 300,000 liability but I switched to the Affinity group insurance which is a national insurance company that covers properties in multiple states.   

Pay an institution 10's of thousands for years while making a crap wage just so you can end up having to work for a living, HA. 

I have a few national accounts that take me to Arizona, Texas and beyond.

I am a CPA and I work full time for a financial institution while also acting as bookkeeper/landlord/property manager for our investments. 

Or is your experience different in that each municipality institutes their own rules?  

They have every item in Lowe's Home Improvement inventory in a database necessary for rehabbing efficiently, along with the national labor rates, at the push of a button. 

THEY DON'T HAVE JOBS NOW RIGHT.......There are properties and strategies you can use to obtain property in your area, within an hr radius of you, I almost did it during what would have been the bottom of the crash nationally but the peak of the boom locally - I just didn't end up entering the Douglas market.

We are also members of the National REIA.

The better areas of Chicago just like the better real estate markets of the nation have quickly bounced back towards peak prices, so the equity bet is risky.