I refused to use them... until the velocity of my business dicated that I had to expand my team and finding and creating compentent real estate agents freed me up to pursue what I consider the three prime responsibilities of any successful real estate investors...These are... 1.

Its about the velocity of the money.

Plus...escape velocity...Episode 113 – Jay Papasan - Very practical slow and steady adviceEpisode 221 - Tim Shiner - his concept of equity build up and "shearing the sheep" shows some of the flexibility of real estate vs a 401k Last but not least, I also recommend all the tax advice given by my fellow CPAs on the BP Podcast.

You need to decide on why you are entering the world of real estate investing and identify your area(s) of investment first before worrying about your velocity.

you dont raise the bid, 10 days later the house is still sittingas for short sales, again banks require a Min net based on a BPO they have on their books and if the asset manager smells you are looking for some discount or making some money, they decline the deal...It is just a system, so many monkey at very low level working these assets now these days that have no clue about leverage and velocity of the money.

$1 leaving those reserves devalues the USD more than $1 dollar should due to the velocity of money, it is overvalued I'll give you that, but what if banks felt comfortable all at once and released their reserves, what happens then.

Just deploy it safely and increase the velocity on your cash.Try networking as much as you can with local investors and with investors on here to find a rockstar agent.

Option 2 seems to be better if I want to dive right into it and increase the velocity of my investments.

The velocity of money is a powerful tool and most buy and hold strategies are long term plays, the live in flip is an accelerant to your money. 

Increase the velocity of your money then buy free and clear rentals.