slightly off topic . in Hawaii, while on vacation we heard some loud yelling and and what sounded like a lot of domestic violence happening - I went outside and was trying to determine the location of it and soon another guy joined me who had also heard it - we discovered the room it was coming from and both approached to ask if everything was ok - a big muscle bound guy answered the door sweating and breathing heavy - he said everything was ok and that him and his girl were just having a disagreement -when asked if she was OK - he said yes - then the guy that was with me asked she could please come  outside and confirm to us that she was OK - I was a little taken back by his boldness , but was glad he asked - so she came to the door and confirmed she was OK and didn't need any assistance.

This included how much and who holds the earnest money deposit, where the money is held, and what are the terms and/or contingencies that allow you to or the seller to retain the earnest money deposit in the event of default or dissatisfaction with the contract.The questions that you have are real estate 101 type issues but require everything to be spelled out.

As a first time home buyer, how can I get started with investment properties and retain my first time home buyer benefits for when I am ready to purchase my first home to live in? 

If under $100 (and you want to retain these tenants), pay the 50% - worth it for good will alone at that rate imo.  

It slaps of predatory practice giving an option then retaining appreciation over ther term, again, that's not an option contract. 4.

hello I'm Joe Spann I have flipped housed back in the 90s but dropped out in the down fall just retired and started to get back into it had some money bought two houses started to work on them but codes made me Tare t...

This (or something similar) may work for you if you are willing to give up cash flow for a few years to buy out (via the 2nd) your investors quickly, then retain majority ownership. 

Looking forward to reading about how you intend on retaining your "crown" - there's a lot of competition for that Title!

You may be able to use the cash as collateral for a loan if you want to retain it while the bankruptcy falls off or put in a brokerage account and buy some decent dividend paying stocks and pull out cash using the available SMA in the account effectively creating you own loan while the dividends cushion the interest your paying. 

Following in my parent’s footsteps, I went to real estate night school and invested in several residential properties in Central Austin, remodeling and flipping some of the properties and retaining a few for rental income.