The part about people not believing in you or thinking its a gamble definitely hits close to home for me..

Good luck. haha i would run away from anyone self-proclaiming as "financial expert" with the expectation to "meet the guru / mentor/coach / master of all business" in his/her personal residence lol I have not google him yet but I bet he is taking picture in front of luxury house and driving sports car ?

H1B lottery is a big gamble and adds a lot of uncertainty.

This has been discussed alot on here.Some people seem fine with no cable.I have nice vacation rentals and provide an easy way to watch live sports, news etc.I provide cable channels or you tube TV.In my listings I state up front that I provide cable channels because I'm not cheap that if other people won't provide this what else are they cutting corners on?

This is definitely making me rethink if it's a worthwhile gamble (especially considering the owner that is bey foreclosed on is supposedly a lawyer).

I'd be happy breaking even just to get the equity on a building, especially since I'm currently renting - aka giving my landlord wads of cash every month to buy new sports cars. 

My wife and I run collegiately and can potentially get schooling and living expenses (such as housing) paid for with a sports scholarship.

My intent was to use the local reputable contractor (think of the guys sponsoring sports).

Of course, you could also gamble that the tenant won't show up in court and you get a default judgment.

There are others that continue to gamble with floating rate debt.