(There's no bright-line test as to what constitutes a trade or business, but an ongoing part-time activity can qualify.)"

It's a Rorshach test in that like the psychologist's ink blot test, what you think of it depends on one's unique vantage point.I'll generalize a bit here, but many folks from the coasts are used to very high housing costs and can't quite buy into the idea that a $50K house doesn't have to be in a bad neighborhood.There's a community near me with $50K median price houses, $50K median household income and average monthly rent of $900 - $1100.

I found this system to work great when there is difficulty with ground perk tests which can take a long time to resolve with your municipality. 

Looking into purchasing a single family home to start out and test the waters.

Of all the times I've heard this I've noticed it's never really talked about in terms of specifics.On one end of the spectrum Josh Dorkin made this site because he was supposedly burned on some of his first real estate deals because of lack of knowledge, on the other end of the spectrum I hear the term "analysis paralysis" a lot.We all grew up taking tests in school to determine what we "really" know about a subject.

If you plan to lease it (be a landlord) yourself, and you don't have enough cash to pay them some down + closing costs+ marketing for a renter + cash reserves for that thing that will happen that you haven't planned for, my "eyeball test" says this isn't a deal for you.Again, the WRAP and lease option guys may have better answers.

It is decidedly more complicated to raise money this way so “testing the waters” on the site is a safer way for people to raise money once an opportunity is identified.Development deals are what the site seems to be catering to.

Not sure how valid it is as I'm not a lawyer and hasn't been tested yet, but in my lease in my non-smoking clause, fireplace clause and elsewhere, I state specifically that determination of existence of odor is at Landlord's discretion, and I have specific language about air duct cleaning, carpet cleaning, professional household cleaning of walls, cabinets, etc., at Tenant's expense if necessary to eliminate odors.  

I have roughly 150 names, of which I am ready to do a 'test sample' with a couple of them that I am very comfortable with, and I think they with me also.

Sometimes we'll do a $20 test run with a new tenant to confirm they set it up correctly.