Get a skilled commercial broker on your side.

So I had already pulled the trigger, but doing it from a distance was new and took different skills...and it was the only way we could get back in the game, since we are still overseas.Most of our rentals back in the boom we converted to sales; we sold to our tenants after helping them clean up their credit, and we carried back second mortgages for income.

Also, my husband has childhood friends in town who are quite skilled (professional contractor, inspector, etc) - we actually would feel comfortable trusting them with an arrangement like this.

I'd like to put together a better deal next time.I think that buy/rehab/hold is a good strategy for me based on my goals and skill set.

I am semi-skilled with basic things.

I bet your skills as a car salesman will come in so handy with REI.

Not saying it wouldn't be hard to enforce, depends on your skills, at least it's there as a point of issue. :)

Regulatory attorneys are always far more expensive because regulatory law requires the skill to extrapolate what the regulators and the courts will actually do when examining or enforcing the laws and rules.This is where so many so called non attorney "experts" posting on the internet go wrong.

If you don't have the skills and knowledge to come to a value and want to get an appraisal, and you will be buying, go to your lender!

I agree completely that it is a valuable (arguable the most valuable) life skill to have.