If the property is merely vacant, do everything possible to determine if it is abandoned, meaning nobody cares about it and the taxpayer has most likely made a conscious decision to just walk away. 

I would assume someone renting a room is price conscious and wants a solid “this is what my housing costs per month” number. 

Definitely something to be conscious of and to know whether it is a minor sub-$1000 expense or a major game changer.

But I am just conscious that banks may take a view on "taking money out" in Scenario 2 and penalize you with a higher rate.

Your non-US track record can help show experience even if the US activity is new.You want to consciously focus on building US credit both personally and business credit (hence the need for a business entity).

Hey @Mario Morales - Just wanted to say thank you for bringing up this topic and thank to @Samuel Pavlovcik and @Prashanth Mahakali, they are golden nugget tips for Chicago real estate investors.Quality of life for my tenants is something I want to continually be conscious of. 

Be conscious, some can hold these tight to their chest, because they've been through the bad to find the good ones.  

If you can’t find any, then it’s clear that none of those “other” leaders were as brilliant, charismatic, social media conscious, oblivious to reality or frankly anywhere near as good looking as you.To those who might point out the obvious logical fallacy in your proposed legislation, it is clear they simply do not understand the power of this legislature to demand laws of economics be suspended whenever or in whatever fashion are necessary when they conflict with your vision of the world.

Hey all,I'm placing this in the "Investor Psychology" section because I'm just sort of pontificating in this post, stream of consciousness style, ya dig?

Personally when I was a renter I was guilty of not being as conscious with consumption of any utilities that were included.