Next door squatter had piled up old siding, with old paint on it, and he was burning it in the chimney in the winter to stay warm.

You can have hours of fun - plus, any time they burn up dealing with you gives them less time to steal from somebody else.

Still better than the place burning down, I guess.

Opening a HELOC, but not actually drawing on the HELOC, is like "stock piling" cash without the cost of the interest burn.

You are looking for burned out hobby landlords. 

That's why I like to always leave "failed deals" with a good impression (no rough bridge-burning negotiations) and let them know that if they change their mind here's my card. 

From a lender's perspective, the biggest determinant of risk is the LTV and skin in the game.Lenders have been burned by worst-case scenarios, i.e. if you default or the market turns. 

I know it can burn when you have a totally baseless case filed against your llc, because you'll obviously have to shell out the $$ for your attorney to defend the llc, money that you'll never recoup, but its necessary and really shines light on the ability of your operation to scale itself.As to needing to be licensed - I know W-2 employees don't need a license for brokerage activities concerning properties owned by their employer.

Do you have the time to burn to get these things done? 

I will continue my research and keep that fire in me burning.