@J Scott   yes the danger of BP  sharing the wealth  creating a new wave of competition at the Baltimore tax sales.I hear what your saying in many tax cert states the big boys come in and bid down the rates of return into the 5 to 8% range.. you have newer players thinking they are going to get this easy 18%...

It was ranked as the most dangerous city in California by having 5X the state average for violent crime.

@Brent Tarnow Could you recommend any neighborhoods in Oakland that a newbie like myself can focus on that isn't too dangerous and livable?  

Those solutions work OK for person-to-person payments, but for rental payments they can be very dangerous.  

You guys will love IFTTT formulas that use zillowCheck out this recipehttps://ifttt.com/recipes/439219-sold-homes-in-my-...I create recipes that show me where homes are being purchased for low prices and reverse engineer the deal to see if I have found a good area to fish for me and my clients.My client in Tennessee was shocked to see that a dangerous part of Nashville is being scooped up  for 20% of ARV (about $50K) and we found that there were demolition permits for all of them.

I guess it is good for the tenants so they don't get stuck in a dangerous home.

If your insurance company has restrictions on "dangerous breed" animals, then you may be able to reject the animal because it violates your insurance policy.3.

Verbal could be dangerous as it may not be a landlord as well. 

I can go on and on with my opinions about breeds (I personally like the "dangerous" ones lol no, not because they're scary, but because they're so easy to train!

The last one can be a bit dangerous but you get the idea.