No telling what will happen when the artificial job market in DC bottoms out (i.e. inefficient government jobs supported solely by tax payers) and outrageous rents like paying $2,300 for a 650 sq ft 1BR unit are no longer realizable.

I believe BAC's market cap will continue to rise especially if the government agrees on a fiscal cliff deal.

We know that prices rose 8% last year, but the official government inflation number was less than 2%.

HUD has had lease-option agreements where tenants could end up buying a property but no government money can be used toward the credit and I believe that program has died a slow death over the years.Taking government funds as rents and crediting back an equity interest is fraud

I prefer to work in a stable bread and butter market with people like teachers and government workers who we assume passed a background check and are drug-free.

Bandaids is what our government is all about.

This case arises because the members of a law firm organized as a PLLC did not adopt an operating agreement or any other documents governing the operation of the PLLC."38 pages of lawyers pissing on eachother.

Laws governing LLCs may vary from state to state.Bill, I don't know Missouri law, but some of the information you are putting out in this post is not accurate for most states.

Then the expenses come in for soil samples, engineering and complaince with local governments (poitical).

As for the rate of vacancies, its hugely dependant on the area and class of properties again, and whether or not you want to deal with government supported tenants (what you call section 8 in the US)- for me, in Japan, its a no-brainer, since they're nothing like yours in the US, but if that's where you plan to invest, you'd better give this some thought - these tenants will fill up your vacancies fast, but come with a whole unique set of issues.Totally with you on the leverage front, wouldn't touch a mortgage with a ten foot pole these days, seen too many smart individuals and savvy companies (and I'm not saying this with cynicism) get very badly burned with assumptions regarding appreciation, depreciation and amortization - to think the GFC is a once in a lifetime event and will never happen again is the biggest (and dumbest) gamble of all, in my perspective.The amount of time you'll spend on each property, again, is a direct factor of the class of properties and areas you invest in, and the quality of your chosen team, in particular your property manager.