My profile says Upland but that's an old office address that I need to update.I was making a generalization about OC/LA prices - there are pockets that have dropped more than the surrounding areas but everytime I am offered a house out there, I always find the same thing - too much room to drop.

That causes a big drop in FICO.

After that, you'll need about 5% a year just to stay above water.

Robert - Drop insurance all together ...

I think it's very unfair to the seller when the short sale is dropped because there is no profit.

It ignores vacant unit, clean up and marketing between tenants, eviction costs, damage, routine maintenance like the roof, hot water heaters, appliances, lawn care, snow removal, etc etc etc etc that are all real costs whether on an annual or some other recurring basis.In most places, if you can offer an investor a property with little deferred maintenance that is generating rents at 2% of purchase price, they are going to jump all over it.

This $750 over the lifespan will cover 2 furnances, 2 A/C units, 2 hot water tanks and 1 roof.

If it drops 10", why not build a plywood subfloor with 2x4 and 2x6 floor joists to level the basement out?

My apartments are 30 years old.I have a maintenance guy do unit checks every 2 weeks.Basically checks water heater,heater,outside unit,light bulbs,ceiling fans,electric,plumbing,etc.We have water included in rent so stuff like replacing springs and o rings in the showers to prevent drips and replacing flappers in toilets to keep the water from running all the time.Sometimes the shutoff valve at the wall for the toilet doesn't close all the way to off or the float mechanism goes bad.You can buy a water pressure tester at Lowe's for 9 dollars.Just screw it on check for pressure.Should read 60 to 80 pounds.If it's higher than that you have to find the pressure regulator valve next to the water cutoff for the unit and adjust it.After adjusting if the pressure doesn't go down to 60 to 80 you have a bad pressure regulator that needs replacing.The importance of this is pressure is set for the cities and counties at around 160 for the fire hydrants.If pressure is high inside the apartments it can cause leaking and premature failure of plumbing parts.On the insurance we are required for replacement value and can't do market value.

Okay so I move a new tenant into a unit.They call the next day and say the tubs are not draining well.We go and inspect and the tubs are slow draining.We put drain-o and others down the line and it does nothing.Then we call our plumber and he snakes the line.The problem is someone put in a T line from the 2 tubs instead of a Y line so the line is clear from tub to tub but the snake cannot turn a corner to go further into the pipe.So the plumber suggest we use CLOBBER from a specialty store which is straight concentrated sulfuric acid.This does not clear the line.Plumber comes out and then installs a Y line fixing the T-line.Puts a camera down the line from the kitchen which is downstairs and the bath plumbing is in the ceiling.He sees a drink cap and what looks like a bottle but can't tell.We are thinking from a roof put on years ago a roofer dropped a drink down the plumbing vent and it is stuck.So the plumber opens up the wall above the kitchen sink and VOILA the problem is found!