Really appreciate you sharing this info.

Lots of great info on this thread!

Effectively good egg is simply a P.O. box that takes a Commission out of your hard earned/saved money, in return, for purportedly providing due diligence to vet the potential projects and sponsors, on your behalf.

I wasn’t prepared to lose so much of my savings as carrying cost basically I paid for the tenants to live there for 3 months + my own living expenses in that time.

If not get yourself an agent who can represent you and save you some time along the way.

@Jonathan Greene this was great info, much appreciated.

Getting one property and cashflowing it will be a challenge. you can try seller financing but you are still going to be highly levered which just enhances the risk that you are taking on.The best way to grow is to focus on managing your rental, saving money through your W2 and crushing that - if you are a realtor you will make more crushing it as being a realtor than over leveraging real estate - then save for down payment and buy slowly. its not a rush.

But saving someone else from this happening would be vindication.  

Good Morning,I am a former Claims Specialist with the Social Security Administration and currently unemployed homeowner who is looking for guidance on how to gain property management experience here in the Central Coast of California.My wife is the only one working at the moment, so times are tough to say the least.We're looking to rent out a portion of our home in order to save up enough money to purchase our second home (or multi-family unit), rent that out, and begin to expand our portfolio. 

@Brandon Croucier is giving you solid info on finding an experienced and honest mortgage broker who can shop your exact scenario both ways, with the rehab and without and break down the benefits of each with all fees so you can see an apples to apples comparison.