Thanks for the responses.I just wanted to make sure its not language/culture barrier that is causing me to dismiss some of these- that would not be cool for lots of reasons- but here in LA in the LA rent control/tenant friendly environment- MTR hosts are pretty paranoid (that is because as alot of you probably already know- 30 days creates a legal tenancy)Invariably though these people act weird, wont be vetted, never have reviews, etc., so I'm glad others feel as I do.

Also keep in mind some places are rent controlled.

If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing.

Factors that control this are the asset class, condition, neighborhood, etc.

You, the property owner have a choice of what type, deductible amounts, liability coverage amounts, and you even have some control over the value that the insurance company puts on for the property value.  

Actually, the property becomes part of the bankruptcy estate and the bankruptcy trustee controls the estate.

All of them offer check book control.  

While the neighborhoods and the buildings may be great to live in, the total lack of control does not fit me.

(out of control lawn, broken awning, looks like nobody has been home).So I decided to go to look up the property and see who owns the house and if the taxes have been paid.

Just like China.. anyone can do any real estate there.But as we know there Is a Robust real estate industry here that is licensed controlled etc.. with heavy emphasis on ethics'' and of course you have unethical realtors... you see that in the monthly bulletins with all the realtors getting reprimanded or losing their license.To me if you want to wholesale BUY THE HOME close on it then resell it.. its that simple.. trying to act like your not a REal estate broker and hide behind the quasi arguments that are touted on this site.. to me is just circumventing the industry and the law.there are brokers who specialize in cheap defunct properties as there is a lot of that inventory in all the hoods of America.