I'm sure plenty feel justified in doing it because they know of other fraud in the system, some just pure greed. 

Is it purely price driven or is there something about the area that appeals more to you as an investor and your tenants as renters?  

These gains in home sales activity are being driven by pure demand."

(These numbers are purely imaginary, but you get the point -- it's a basic risk/return analysis).b) Potential Stick: If you execute a purchase and sale agreement, you may be exposed to legal risk that could cost you far more than the money you spent on the option contract.The above is strictly for informational and discussion purposes and is NOT a recommendation for you to take any particular action.    

I've been leaning that direction purely because I have a small HELOC as part of a loan too so by selling I can utilize the 50K difference toward a multi-family dwelling instead.

I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not but whenever I edit my listings I tend to get a booking or inquiry within 24 hrs...I'm not sure if the booking platforms have an algorithm in place for updated listings or if it's purely law of attraction.

However just because I can come up with that money, doesn't mean that I want to if there is a better way to do things.Regardless of my particular financial situation, from a purely educational point of view, how do people go about eliminating some of these aforementioned problems?

The list he came up with was like 10 pages of pure trash. 

Both of their run-up in prices are different.  03-09 lots of 100% finance loans, negative amortization loans, pure speculation, and low rents, lots of new construction. 

I have chosen these windows almost purely on cost and availability from the home store I frequent.The first deal was sold as a flip, so long term reliability wasn't that high on the list.