One insurance company dropped us for almost no reason and we had to get aother company for $400 more (of course we will be shopping for a less expensive company but alll sorts of unexpected expenses drop out of the sky when you are a landlord)   The condition of our duplexes  were near perfect as they are only 12 years old.  

Do most people run a one man/women shop?

It just becomes a priority of who they shop their deals to.

Other places I've shopped for cheap cabinets are Liberty Home Supply (on Caesar Chavez) and Discount Builder's Supply (by DBI), but I can't remember how good the natural maple looked - I was looking for natural cherry at the time.

From the window shopping and research I've done, the best deals seem to be the fresh ones on Loopnet, whereas the worst (or at least the sketchiest) are usually the ones on craigslist.

A good bird dog is a bridal shop owner or flower shop.

@Dan Borecki,Really it boils down to shopping around for the best rate and terms.

I also like to shop the comps.

When shopping around and you tell them what amount you want to finance, the other things like where your credit stand, they should still be able to give you a ball park % rate.

Because I have a feeling that the different insurance companies that I'm going to shop around with are going to hike the rates tremendously.I prefer to be upfront with them right from the beginning about the usage of the property to avoid any issues down the road.