I would disagree with number 2 - in this environment, heavy rate buydowns are a common tool in the toolkit for lenders and borrowers to make deals work and are in no way indicative of "not being well-capitalized"That’s a fair point in regards to doing a buy down, we see that quite often but we roll the buy down into the loan so those aren’t paid at closing, thus not costing the borrower funds out of pocket at the time of purchase or refinance. 

Before contracting on the lot, you should check with the local municipality to verify building requirements, current code requirements, list of required documents, surveys, soil tests, engineered plans, etc.Once you have identified your lot and finalized your estimate its time to build.You or your GC will get the permits.For the final build, there are 2 ways to build, as either a cost plus, or fixed price project.Hope this helps, let me know if you have additional questions.

Hehe, I just tested in on our lake house.

We eventually figured out that they were using like half of a roll each time because they were terrified waste might touch their hands.

And we are just getting ready to pass the septic licensing test which will help us save 6k to 7k per cabin by doing our own septic. 

But I can consider rolling some of my retirement accounts into a self-directed IRA and investing in syndications that way if I wanted, and still enjoy all the tax-free growth in my retirement account.• Bonus depreciation is winding down, as many of us know.

I would not advise working with any PM unless they are able to provide all of the necessary reports for the property - Cash Flow, Income Statement, rent rolls, T12, etc.

Absolutely I would not spend $$ on a cookbook, not everyone cooks, and it will likely just go in the trash.Also, the first few months are when tenants are in the testing phase, so this isn't the time to show them you are a softy, it's the time to go strictly by the lease, and this is a professional relationship. 

The noise from upstairs is annoying so next time I'd do more testing of the quality of soundproofing in the ceiling (older home so wasn't as good).

Although there are technically 7 ways to pass this test, usually only two of them are useful in the STR context:A.