The idea that I’d need to know the internals of the home makes a lot of sense.

And they can not buy a foreclosure for their personal benefit.As to your comment "I'm spending this week learning about foreclosure investing" the first thing to study is RCW 61.34.030 Criminal penalty.make sure you understand what that means.

Essentially, the criminal act of the third party was against you (more so than the tenant), because payment had been delivered to you and thus was "in your possession". 

If your lease agreement doesn't prohibit driving too fast in the residential area of the unit, you need to have a landlord attorney in your state look at the lease you're using, because driving too fast in a residential area may be a civil or criminal infraction or may even rise to the level of endangering the lives of others (neighbors).

This "not that big country" actually has 7 International airports.

Also, the state of formation is likely where internal disputes would be brought among LLC members, so if you and a partner and/or spouse live in CA, you probably want to arbitrate in CA if the two of you had a disagreement.

More specifically setting up an LLC as a Canadian, navigating cross-border taxation, finding lenders, and going through the acquisition process as an international investor.Thanks in advance for anyone who has advice!

"for $___/year, we provide "x" additional inspections")6) Liability policy that covers tenant intentional damage, criminal acts, and unpaid rent when skipped or evicted (through insurance provider that provides this kind of coverage)7) Financial reports per quarter (as whatever period makes sense to you) (this can allow you to advise the owner on the health of their portfolio)8) End-of-year review of the property to show conditions and suggested needed and preventative maintenance items 9) Preferred vendor discounts (requires a contract with a vendor to give better pricing)10) Eviction protection programs (this is usually done "in house" when you have sufficient number of units under your management to be able to offer this kind of program)11) Legal services (requires agreement with landlord attorney to provide those services at set fees)12) Professional photos option (for enhanced listing)13) Professional, licensed home inspection (this is more relevant for older homes to ensure safety and habitability are addressed) 14) HVAC filter replacement program (this can also be a program offered to tenants)15) Pet and ESA screening through pet screening vendor (helps to streamline and increase quality of screening)16) Client portal account for ease of communication, updates, reports, etc.

As tax attorneys, we follow changes to the Internal Revenue Code closely and help you file accurately.

The biggest pitfall is when a landlord tries to be "nice" - non-paying tenants are literally stealing from you, treat them like the criminals that they are.To calculate reserves for vacancy costs We average about 2-3% vacancy across our portfolio, I use 5% as the number for reserves.