I don't know if you can really be sued simply for advertising "no pets", but case law supports what she says.

Managing your own holiday rental is great for experience and getting your feet wet, but as you acquire more properties you might notice it's becomin a full time job which eats away at your precious time (which could be spent hunting and orchestrating the next deal, or just enjoying life ;) - there are plenty of companies in Japan who can do that for you, top to bottom, from advertising through  management and all the way to complete subleasing (meaning, they pay you standard market long term rent or slightly higher, keep the place occupied, renovated and constantly cleaned etc - less yield if occupied all through the year, true, but also zero hassle and hands-on mgmt required).2.

When advertising for renters what do you call a single unit of a triplex or duplex?

LA does have open enrollment so there are some options not usually advertised.

In Minn. it has to have your broker's name in all advertising which includes social media.  

The minimum bid is $27K and before it was abandoned, about 7 years ago, it was appraised at $185K. 

however, is there a law says that real estate agents could not buy the property that they are advertising ??

You can also see if there is a NOD or Notice of Default filed on the property.Just because the house is "abandoned" does not mean that it is foreclosed upon.

I guess the concern for me of oversimplifying is that I don't want to necessarily mislead anyone into believing I'm just a person who's interested in living in the neighborhood.But at the same time, I don't want to advertise that I'm an investor either.

Assignments are generally cheaper though than double closings.If you can find an attorney/title company that will double close (if you have a local REIA join or at least get a monthly news letter and look for title companies/closing attorney's and call to see if they will do this as they are the ones most likely that will and the ones at our local REIA advertise they do double closings) there are a few things you can do to minimize your costs.