He's got the #1 investor podcast in your area, his property management company is first rate, and he's a great guy.

That is something that could make sense in the short term while rates are still high.

I was talking to a RE friend.He said it's a bad time to buy* rates are high* homes are expensive in most marketsLooking to hear some counterpoints. 

I goal is to find a market that has good appreciation rate with good to decent cashflow but out of the two appreciation matters more to me.

Financing contingency is there if you can't get the loan at the amount you thought, interest rate is raised or your payment changed higher than you put in the loan could give you an out.

Once you start stacking more and more property loans into your personal name, it can bleed into your personal credit worthiness.This bit me in the butt when I wanted to refinance my own house when rates were in the 2% range.  

many houses in the midwest, for example, are very old and need major rehabs.i personally think out of state investing is more difficult than advertised, and much more difficult in the current investing environment, with: prices high; interest rates high; tremendous demand for inventory, by both investors and retail buyers; and good PMs, contractors, etc. booked up.here's a really thoughtful thread with the experience of another CA investor and lots of different responses:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...and here are some threads about how it can very easily go wrong:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...finally, you also said you "don't have a lot of money to start with." 

A lender, "how about interest rates, wow."

Our actual carriers used to be Secura, but they seem to be getting out of a lot of insurance lines or pricing so high as to have customers drop off, and we just moved policies in Nov. to Hanover Insurance. 

If she wants paid for canceled appointments, then I would suggest you look for a new cleaner.My policy is to keep all funds if the guests cancels within two weeks of their stay, unless I'm able to rent to someone else for the same period/rate.