Percentages vary depending on your strategy but here is generally how I use my excess cash from this portfolio: Say you have extra 1,000 bucks after paying your monthly expenses and putting aside money for reserves: I split it out in the following manner. 1) Additional rainy day fund for CAPEX and repairs. 10% 2) Additional Acquisitions budget 50% 3) Additional Debt paydown 25% 4) Stocks / Bonds/ Pay myself. 15% I definitely prescribe to the pay myself first , and have a more conservative approach when dealing with debt .

That is extra money that I could have invested else where.

Never heard of a tenant actually getting a judgment for anything approaching $2M....usually judgments are for mishandling deposits. 

If a potential tenant that passes my application process has section 8 I will usually work with them.

Every time I go to my local REI meetings, there are usually only 1 or 2 licensed agents there and everyone seems to want to network with them.

Someone, usually the title co. handling the closing for an extra fee, has to go through the process of contacting the irs, showing documentation of the sale, the amount due the person owing the lien, and get the irs to remove the lien from the property, for a partial payment of the lien.  

@Wayne Brooks  without knowing details who knows whats happening.. but usually you have affirmative coverage or you have an act that your accused of that is not covered.. that as you state could be the case here.. 

I usually say something like "I was cheeking public records and I found   .   .   .

Being a member of a protected class doesn’t provide extra privileges it is used to insure equal treatment

Ooooh, one more question: For those of you working within Washington State, do you have favorite tools/venues to find off-market opportunities, or do you do it the "usual" ways (research, hunting for "motivated" sellers, driving for dollars, building up connections with people in the know, etc.)?