Jon is right about pest control (a necessity).If you have apartment ownership/management experience and have 15% or 20% down, my lenders are offering rates at 4% or lower (amortized loans).

My dad told me that I should change the locks, and let her know that we found something majorly wrong with the apartment that we need to fix prior to renting it out, and refund her money...fix all the necessities like any leaks and non-working smoke detectors, and re-rent.

Leave it up to the consumer to choose if they want to use a licensed service provider or an unlicensed one.That said, some things should be a necessity for licensing such as builders, electrical, AC, things that could cause harm to others if people hired unlicensed and unmonitored service providers.

Cutting viewscapes are a necessity as well as clearing the building site, providing walkways to other sweet spots (water assets, rock formations, open space, etc.).

Real Estate is a necessity and will be highly valued by everyone as a place of protection from the elements.

Of course you can't rule out "necessity"...

That being said - I think it is very wise and actually a necessity to diversify yourself in the real estate game and to not limit yourself to one strategy.

What I'm saying is there is a necessity for slumlords.

The fence is very controversial because it cuts through towns and farms, separating farmers from their land, but unfortunately it is a necessity.

Bryan -I completely agree with you...Historically speaking, taxes are very low right now (the lowest in 60 years according to the Tax Policy Center), and while they'll probably increase a bit over the next couple years, they will continue to be low relative to recent levels of taxation in this country.All that said, reducing Federal income tax at the lower end of the income spectrum would hopefully alleviate some of the pressure middle class folks are having making ends meet and ensuring their families have the basic necessities -- a good thing in my book...