My humble advice to anyone attempting to do creative finance is:Creative finance is for experienced investors who have access to capital if anything goes wrong.Learn the lawsDon't use a contract "off the internet", laws vary by state and are also regulated on a federal levelLearn the financing techniques correctlyDon’t skip parts of the processDon’t ever do a “kitchen table” closingUse the proper deedAn attorney can help you with the legal work, but the rest you are on your ownYour guru will not bail you out“Investing” in someone else’s deal by providing a small 2nd loan so the “investor” can pay for “cash to the seller” and for “closing costs” so he can do the deal is a very bad planKnow what problems can ariseLearn the responses and solutions to problems before they are neededKnow everything there is to know about Title and what that meansKnow who a "protected class" individual isLearn the "back doors"Learn human natureUnderstand timelinesUnderstand regulation enforcement (some of these "mistakes" have a 10 year statue of limitations ( they can charge you 10 years AFTER you do the transaction) and carry hefty fines and possible imprisonmentThe court doesn't accept "I didn't know" for an answer"Know that the source of the lead plays a serious role in some states and federallyKnow how much of a "profit" pushes the boundaries to invite an investigationYou can be sued by the seller if you don’t do things correctlyYou are automatically at fault if an investigator or attorney or regulator gets involved.

Yes we tried everything, and Yes I know now that wasn't the best play haha. 

It is a very safe play.

Comps to me no longer play the only role because of rates, seasonality, etc., it definitely fights the arguments on re-fis with the appraiser but I'm noticing there's just a liquidity issue that is skewing things.I try to essentially start at the floor and work my way up on the ARV as opposed to seeing the highs and working it down.

I have more than 20k to play with, just looking for ideas for best use. 

As others have alluded to, buying larger units or a house near the beach is a better play. 

Shout out to permit professionals like Roy Hasson (just a friend in LA specializing in navigating permit process - this is not a business play we do not work together), who are dedicated to helping others and will likely develop similar resources to support their communities through the rebuilding process.If you’re working on rebuilding efforts or have questions, feel free to connect with me—I’d love to collaborate.

There’s no real reason to jump into another market unless your goals shift and your current market doesn’t fit anymore—or if the market itself stops producing the results you need.Mastering one market and squeezing every opportunity out of it is a much better play than spreading yourself too thin and getting half-baked results in multiple places.

Even as early as this August, they were supposed to send us our original investment back, and then it really took a turn last week and when I finally got Neal on a Zoom call, he was talking another 2 years before it all played out. 

Hi Robert,Given you are looking to buy another rental (long term), a cash out refinance on the existing property would be a good play here.