Detroit actually went bankrupt in 2013 20bil in debt.

The forum article is called "I went bankrupt wholesaling" by Keith Goodwine.

 My wife and I are going to start teaching a class on how an ordinary young couple like my wife and I went from nearly bankrupt 10 years ago to worth millions by investing in small-town multiplexes.

@Justin Lloyd, if you are thinking about getting into wholesaling, read this thread first:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/380162-went-bankrupt-trying-to-wholesale-heres-my-sage-advice

Experienced people will help you.Having said all that, even with all the due diligence I thought I needed, my first purchase I still did some things I'll never do again, but because I did solid homework on the numbers AND had cash reserves to cover unexpected things, I was able to chalk it up to "tuition" instead of having it bankrupt me.So yeah post your numbers, and you'll have no shortage of investors ready to share their opinion.. ;) Best wishes to you!

My thought is while that sounds great on paper, if we end up not finishing on budget and the contractor now has 20k of our budget (hypothetical number) in his pocket, and we end up bankrupting and closing the door on this venture, there would likely be bad blood about him having profited well while our business folds up.I see a strategy where his expertise is leveraged to oversee that bids are in the right ball park and work is being done properly as well as compliance type issues (permits and such) are all in order.

I am willing to hire a CPA I was actually afraid of them saying I had to file bankrupt or something.  

Hi @Ami SapirIn 2000 I was bankrupt at 33 yrs old and am now 52 years old this Aug 7th.  

A 50K rental house mistake is way easier to come back from than a 800K commercial mistake that bankrupts you for years.  

All fun and games till the wealthy people bankrupt you in court...