Of course there are some laws you need to follow, but it's legal in every state but Illinois.The National Association of REALTORS has a video about it's legality on their site: https://www.nar.realtor/window...So, if you get a real estate agent that says it's illegal, just move on to another.If you can find a good real estate agent that works with investors, they'll bring you deals.Then start calling property managers and ask them if any of their clients have said that they want to sell.The point is that if you polled all of the successful people on BiggerPockets, I bet that they would tell you that taking action is crucial and it's unfortunate how many people let worry get in their way.Likewise, they'd caution you about "Analysis Paralysis," which is essentially spending so much time looking for the perfect solution to a problem that it becomes impossible to find one.

@Nick Brown water wells have been sustaining most of the rural USA for decades...most of the time it's perfectly fine...the point is to have it inspected by a professional...if the well is viable you should be good...if there is a concern, weigh the options the inspector provides...the $500 for an inspection will save you $20k to dig a new well...Water delivery systems should be on your list too...there are several options on how you heat water and get it to your tenants plumbing fixtures...I would be interested to find out how you are billed for public sewer...if the city is not monitoring the amount of water coming in, how can you be billed for water going out??

So outside limits sounds like a great solution.

Happy to share the survey with anyone interested in offering a solution to making the best use of the lots.

Going to be difficult to solve a supply side (labor/oil/materials) problem with a demand side solution. 

@Shawn Tinerino There are a lot of great solutions out there for collecting rent online and advertising your property. 

There's also going to be a lot of investment into finding a solution as whoever figures it out is likely to make a lot of money in the process.  

Murphys is a temp solution, but lasts longer on overhead surfaces, then a little longer vertical, then short on floor/flat surfaces.

@Richard Villandry,So far all my units are metered separately so tenants pay their own bills and I hope I never have a unit where I pay the utilities.I wouldn't let it stop me from getting a good deal but I would want to make sure I could do some sort of separate metering or at least monitor usage so I can bill the tenant for it.

Candidly, I only work CA because I know the state and have become very familiar with many of the laws that apply to the situations I like to work.If you're an active investor from a foreign land, I solute you for taking action when others miss opportuntunities in their own backyards here.