Analyze well so you don’t get burned.

The key is to understand the capital stack, who is in line in front of you and what are their terms.The people who are getting burned may have known there was debt in front of them, but did they know it was short term or variable - did they know all the details to make a good judgment on the investment.If a property had 20 year fixed debt at 70% would you take that over 3 year debt on a variable rate at 50%? 

He pretty much burned his bridges with a lot of people.There was one good thing that came out of all this.

from those I know the way they got going was to buy a 4 plex when it went up in value sell and buy an 8 when it went up sell buy a 16  then a 40 then 100 extra and you need no partners.. you grow it organically. however of course this is not pay 40k and your instantly an apartment owner..

I have a buddy who invested in a project in Las Vegas that crashed and burned.

Maybe it's burned to the ground.

@Richard Bautista could be legitimate, but could also be a "churn & burn" situation.How will you know the difference - before it's too late?

Also Airbnb does prioritize things like looser cancellation policies, instant book, in line with market cleaning fees, etc.

Reputation and referrals matter.I invest out of state, and I’ve been burned by bad contractors before—it’s a fast way to lose money.

The loan officer was aware borrowers planned to use it as a portfolio rental so the only thing this "special loan" would accomplish is burning the relationship.