Just a heads-up: with the way the insurance market has been here over the past couple of years, this is accurate as of today, but things could look very different (for better or worse) in 6+ months.

One thing he used to do was hand-deliver the application to them so he could see how they kept their house. 

I looked at Sapphire pretty hard last year, and made a couple of offers there, but in the end decided it wasn't the market for me.

The returns can be superior to the stock market, but will require more patience and hands- on effort.  

Rev Proc 2008-16 does create a safe harbor for your investment intent at 2 years of investment use coupled with  some other qualifiers.  

Plus by taking long-term debt you have more flexibility (emergency case here) of a couple hundred if you came into financial difficulty. 

I sold them over the next couple years to the tenants and I am glad I did.

We literally are wholesalers....our job is not to hold your hand.

Whats making you think rates wont go down after a couple years given the new administration in charge?

They would offer a more hands free approach, but eat up the profit in return.