When your tenant signs a lease with you both you and he are bound by it. 

Being that if something goes wrong due to vacancy and i cant make my payments, i could loose everything.5.

Post in landlord tenant and you might get somemore reponses.This happened to me not law suit ,,but tenant went behind my back, didn't even make a complaint called her own mold testing guy out and then called and told me what she did..She had just moved in, the test showed mold was not at a level for any issues,, but I had some discoloration on wall by a piece of baseboard coving under the bathroom sink that was loose and they said needed to be treated and replaced.  

What tax strategies do you loose without an entity?

You can be a strict or as loose as you communally agree too - and with a certain level of agreeance (usually 67%) the rules can even be changed from time to time. 

As one who was threatened by a loose pit bull just yesterday, and one whose door frames recently were damaged extensively by a tenant's unauthorized dog, I'll say don't inherit a tenant like this anymore.

I just read your "Definitive Guide to IRR" article and had a good laugh at this:"And, since there are so many idiots chasing yield in the marketplace, you actually manage to sell a money-loosing asset at a profit"No beating around the bush or trying to be sensitive.

find a realtor with investment experience to help guide you through the process. you can call around and talk to different realtors and just be honest with them that you are new to this.make sure to ask if they have investment experience themselves. also practice using the investment rental calculators that this site provides. they are a huge help to make sure that you don't end up with a money loosing investment. 

They are loose with terms and financing.

If you are worried about rising interest rates, you coukd loose much more with a bad tenant experience.