By any means necessary except borrowing money.

so your model is max debt refi till you die.. no aspirations to own real estate free and clear.. except maybe your personal RESI.Portlandia market held pretty good through the GFCthe markets that got hammered wereFLA   Atlanta  VEGAS  PHX  Central CA. 

I'm trying to think down the road if I charged a tenant a late fee and they got the bug to sue me and after digging around they find that my transaction history is peppered with exceptions. 

All is going well except for one problem: I haven't had a w-2 job in years.

It's called their "Delayed Financing Exception".

I always wondered why folks would get surveys on properties I was dealing with in Texas.. because we simply NEVER do that here on the west coast.. except larger acreage type deals and maybe.title insurers want the surveys so they can insure no encumberances.. but those are usually ALTA policies.. my stuff in Charleston being very old plats IE from the 1600 to 1700 all of those have something going on .. so survey is required for title insurance.

(Except that the seller would also be paying tax on the interest you are paying him/her.)

The days of assumable loans (no "Due on Sale" clause) are pretty much gone since the early 1990's, with a few noteworthy exceptions.

On the MO side,  I am seeing rent and property values increasing just about everywhere, except in those D areas that should be avoided at all costs.  

I'm currently in escrow on my primary residence and I will say that the lending guidelines I must adhere to are exceptionally strict.