I have seen on this website answers both ways regarding this (the site administrator saying leave it in Sch A, and his colleague (also a enrolled agent) advising that it can be written off in Sch E, but that there are certain restrictions mainly -- you must have passive activity gains where the deductions are covered (no passive activity loss carry over allowed.

Won’t change much of ur financials, but good to get it all covered.

I think umbrella policies can cover you fine for the most part, but I also am a big fan of just kind of keeping my mouth shut about how much I own.

If you like personal finance podcasts, I would recommend the new BiggerPockets Money podcast, as well as Radical Personal Finance (some of his episodes can be very long and drawn out, but there is such a variety of topics covered).

., how does the investor cover their debt?

It also is a great resource for covering rehab costs.

What are some sensible ways to find financing to cover the $3000-5000 earnest money? 

I  just do craigslist. i don't put my phone number because i want to pre-screen via email. otherwise you will have calls whenever it is most convenient for the caller and that can be any time. 

Yeah, my girlfriend is an agent; we have it covered 😎

Here's a list of what I do use thoughAlliant - 3% of ALL purchasesAmazon - 5% off all Amazon purchases Amex Blue- 6% groceries, 3% gasDiscover - Revolving 5%Chase Freedom- Revolving 5%Lowes - 5%  (for those remodeling projects)I've covered pretty much all my big spending places with those cards and with a base 3% cashback to work with, I've already beat out the 3 to 1 points by the points cards