The family members were all married and did not want the spouses of each partner to take over if one of the partners died.Our client owned several farms outside of the Chicagoland area which when purchased in 2005, at the peak of the market, having values in excess of 5,000,000.

(a) A landlord shall not demand or receive any security deposit in an amount or value in excess of one month's rent or $100, whichever is greater.

A better bet would be to live a frugal/conservative life, invest all that excess capital into additional real estate investments.  

Security deposits are meant for damage and excessive dirtiness upon move out.

The house had excess wear and tear and damage that is above the amounts I collected for cleaning and security deposits.  

I have the appetite to start with something that needs *some* work, but I have to house my young family with me.

that's seems very excessive.  

As I build equity, my plans are to invest the excess equity in buy and hold properties.  

Called an insurance broker looking for an excess liability policy - never got any response. 

With that, my recent, almost excessive need to gather information about real estate investing, specifically buy and hold, has developed quite a few questions.