8. have you consulted an attorney re: the asset protection issues associated with each strategy?

Expected Soft Expenses During Rehab- Carrying costs (mortgage, interest, taxes, insurance)- The necessary insurance needed to protect the property- Do I get it personally or as my business entity?

You also can tax defer your capital gains or refinance out your equity tax free.I would recommend you incorporate rental property into your portfolio to provide some balanced tax protection to your investment strategy.

I want to be a landlord,but with all the problems today such as getting sued by tenants,enviromental issues,and the list goes on.How do wealthy landlords protect their investments,and keep wealth,and from such problems?

They are looking to protect their interest in the property.

It should be noted that an HOA may be trying to protect the owners (all the owners) when they introduce restrictions on rentals.

About a 100 photos of a normal home protects my clients against the sellers saying it was that way and my buyers have had to show the pictures already.

I am well versed in land trust type transactions and not sure what you mean by how lenders look at the sellers in this deal.First off if you look at the Garn St Germain Act of 1982 under section 8a you will find a lender can not call a loan due by way of a seller vesting his title into an inter-vivos trust as long as the settlor remains a beneficiary and there is not tranfer of occupany or leasehold interest so that did not change and been the same.I personally love using trusts due to the protection it provides all parties as beneficiaries in the trust.

DealFlies,Care to expand on the effect of the Home Equity Protection Act in NY on short sales?

This protects your FICO score which in turn protects your rate.