We re-did my hardwood floors 2 years ago and my nice 90 pound black lab has already destroyed them again :(I let one of my tenants paint their living room & bedroom last year, but that's the furthest i'd ever go with tenant DIY.

Also, I work with Black Key Club PM in Louisville and we would love to chat. 

The process of looking for a home, and purchasing along with the help of a friend who happens to be a real estate agent has given me ideas.I went on an e-book shopping spree from the Bigger Pockets store last Black Friday, and started reading "How to Invest in Real Estate".

Think high end stainless steel appliances where you spend $2,000 on a fridge vs a standard $400 white or black fridge.

Personally, I wouldn't see +$150/m as being a deal breaker, but perhaps your target market does.Also, my property manager calls this upcoming time of year the "renter black hole".

Other recessions are incredibly short but painful (e.g. 1987 black monday stock market crash), in which case typical investors who have money in the stock market will be completely unable to cash out faster than computer algorithms.Of course your strategy to refinance cash out could potentially set you up to buy a lot of properties at rock bottom prices, but it could also mean your properties go "underwater," and I don't even know all the negative effects there.

Hello Michael,I have not personally used FB to sell a property but I did just attend a training class with Steve Black and he mentioned all the opportunities there are with using the mass amount of data FB has captured. 

You'd run the risk of being black listed to purchase that property as the buyer being privy to sellers private information could be construed as a violation of arms length.

In addition, I would rather not waste money on renting (putting my money into a black hole).

Check out Black Diamond REIA in Worcester.