Has anyone calculated the cost of setting up LLCs (setup fee + annual fees + extra CPA costs, etc) out to 10 year period.Could that money saved during 10 year period be used for better umbrella insurance?

I did not intend to charge a fee but in our contract COULD have kept the deposit because the 12 month rental period was not satisfied.  

Hell Denise, and thank you for extending your professional wisdom in my new found venture.

You sounded like Barney Zick  or Jack Miller or Jimmy Napier or Peter Fortunato...KISS Keep it simple or starve or KISF Keep it simple or failWhere my mentors back in the mid-80s taught  to me about" a what if statement" which helps you understand how the sellers thinking, and what I like to do is show them the option of selling with an agent versus renting it out versus selling to me on termsIt's important to feel out the seller and say something like, "I don't know if I can do this and I would need to talk it over with my business partner, but what if I could get you a cash flow to you for a period of time and then pay off whatever I owed you,  would that be something to even think about or maybe not?"

@Jack RengoldDon't start with a war zone property, period.  

Lots of bad things can happen and if you do not have the experience or financially abilities to ride out an expensive hold period, you will not come out looking pretty.

That's a nice turnover period, though I think you should remember all of this hassle and start interviewing other property managers.  

Neither the owner nor any family member will be allowed to buy it in a short sale, period. 

I'd really like to own a property in the city, mountains and beach so we can choose which we want to enjoy for any period of time we want!

. ;) But what if you could build 3x as much equity in the same time period?