But any tiny slip up can wreck your life (like the Park City Mountain Resort guy forgetting to renew their land lease on time to the minute and losing the entire resort).Note that this is based off memory from when I looked into this a year ago, so I could be misremembering things slightly, or they could have changed.

You just have to do the math and some investors unfortunately get wrecked because they missed this step.Then your question about reputable builders on a national or local level.

Your pivot makes sense and most owners I talk to in Fort Worth and Arlington are more scared of the one big water event than the drip stuff because a single claim can wreck the year and make renewal even uglier.

Think of it like this: if a $2,500 cage prevents a $6,000 compressor replacement or repeated theft, it’s not optional.The simple framework I’d use (so you don’t get wrecked)If you’re chasing $50k–$90k houses, expect higher risk + higher management intensity.If you buy in the $130k–$200k range (often 3/2 brick ranch territory), you usually get a better balance: still cash flow potential, fewer headaches, better tenants, better resale.If you’re new to Columbus, do this before buying anythingSpend one day driving neighborhoods (or do a video drive with a local PM/agent)Underwrite with real numbers:insurance quote in handvacancy (at least 5–8%)repairs/CapEx reservesproperty management (even if you self-manage)Avoid buying your first deal sight unseen.If you want, I can share a quick “starter buy box” by zip code and property type (cash flow vs stability), but the big takeaway is: Columbus can work, just don’t buy the cheapest thing on the map and expect it to behave.

Permits and inspections can be sneaky too if you are not lining them up early, and long lead items like windows, HVAC, and special order materials will wreck a timeline fast.Are you mostly seeing delays before you start or once the work is underway?

Well yeah, if the house gets sold and they make more money with much less risk than they would by selling subto and giving up that equity and wrecking their debt to income ratio and potentially their credit or having the loan called due, then obviously that's a better deal for the seller even if they have to pay an agent.

He learned to stick with homes with the biggest buyer pools.The delays and timing wrecked this.

If your tenant is a pig they won't need a dog to wreck your place.

What's up BP Fam.Holidays wrecked me and we have the driveways framed in and are unable to pull inspection...

Monopolies wreck the game."