This sounds like a year or more of failing to pay.I would contact the utility company and determine whether they can place a lien against the property.

Spell out the criteria required to occupy on your application and what happens if they fail to meet those standards.

Listening to the BP Podcast and reading the forums are giving me more confidence I guess I just got to get out there and give it a try and not be scared to fail.

Has anyone had experience/success in contacting owners of properties that failed to sell at public auction, shortly after auction closes?

I like the idea of 6 months of opperating reserves if everything fails.   

One thing you are failing to account for is the HUGE amount of money in the Bay Area chasing assets like real estate.

I am profitable enough to do just about whatever I'd like, including "Go big or go home"... in other words, if I did something in REI and totally failed, I've got enough back up income and assets to have a home where I could go!

Passing a cash-per-door test doesn't mean you have a good deal but failing it means you probably have a bad deal.

There's such a thing as no-money-down investing that sometimes works and sometimes fails spectacularly as it gobbles up your reserves.

I'd rather put my effort into enjoying life that fighting with a partner.With about half the marriages in the US failing, I would think that a partnership would have a bigger failure rate,   So why bother with a partnership, unless you are desperate for something you need in the relationship?