(And that's coming from someone who was in product software management for 15 years. 

As you say, the concept is great and true, but the proper application in practice may not be as advertised.

Like you said, put the proper protections in place but know that you can still lose your money - unless you are in first position.

@Allante Loper you probably have all the contacts you need to succeed - you just need to figure out how to properly leverage them!

But my biggest advice, make sure you properly comp the property. 

So I looked at it like 10% management fee up front that covers the assembly of the product and sales of the product to people like me. 

Anyone investing in a product new to them is never going to have perfect knowledge going in; extensive knowledge is accumulated over time, and, well, if you wait for perfect knowledge you’ll never invest.  

If the property is in fact vacant, the problem it runs into is proper comps where say it might have 9 bedrooms and the rest of the neighborhood and similar properties have 3. 

I'd find a mortgage broker who understands your strategy well enough to advise on products designed to help you scale. 

Well I believe that the incoming administration will in the first few week find ways to reduce regulation and increase domestic energy production.