I plan to buy the half-acre plot from a land bank in a small town in northeast Ohio. 

Quote from @Quentin Stephenson: Quote from @Jamie Banks: I also list on Zillow, Airbnb, VRBO, and Hello Landing.

If financing, is it better to get a bank loan or finance at the dealership?

The resources we had:- a bank (conventional) that lends money up to 35k for 650 credit score- hard money lender with APR 120%- seller/community (who acts like he doesn't want to talk at all)- a real estate mentor that costs $35K to useThe "answer" to this exercise was:Use personal credit to borrow from the bank and spend the $35k on mentor, and then mentor has the "connection" with the community bank to negotiate a deal and brought a 70K property for 40K with FMV of $140K.

Some sleep better at night with zero debt, while others love to use leverage and are willing to take on more risk.Community banks right now will go with 80% LTV.

There was client bank account information in the folder and she could have done significant further harm to our business.

@Jamie Banks may be able to help - do you know anyone who does MTR in the same house?

If REIPro isn’t cutting it for your skip tracing, give Prime Tracers a shot—it’s been super reliable for connecting with the right contacts without breaking the bank.

For almost any kind of permanent rental/investment property financing (whether Conventional, DSCR, or local bank), you are going to need a decent credit score to qualify.

Bank as much money as you can between now and purchase date.#4.