I learned the hard way and would like to help prevent you from making an expensive payment so large.lBefore my brain anuerism and stroke took me away from a local company that makes emotional sales.  

Additionally, I learned a great deal from them and I'm glad I went to their (free) presentations.Some people probably do it to stroke their own ego, but I also think there are some people out there who really do want to give back.

That is unless you want to invest in lower end cash flow properties, but you need to be very careful with that.Of course, this leaves out a lot of detail and there are of course exceptions, but those are the broad strokes of where I would be cautious about.

Several years ago, I suffered a stroke, I've recovered somewhat, but not fully.

my VERY brief answer is "different strokes for different folks and both can be beneficial and/or costly"....I am going to come back to this thread when I have more time to read all these lengthy replies as this is a great topic and I would like to add my 2 cents in more detail.

IE their payment is 600 to bank and your paying them 800... you send two checks one to bank one to them.. if it does not clear the bank you know they did not forward it.If the payment is for the exact amount of the bank note.. send the check to them made out to the bank.this should protect both.. although you run the risk of the bank calling the loan.what would happen if you got the loan called.. would you stroke a check or could you refi. thats an important part of this. its for these reasons these need to be handled carefully and sellers need to be very very careful.. its more about protecting them than you as the investor..

I found BP about a year ago while is was medically recovering and at home all of the time after having a brain anuerism and a stroke when I was 55 years old.  

By the way , Tom had another bad stroke and really messed up his speech and walking.

I don't know if I'll have a heart attack or a stroke, so I carry health insurance to cover the risk of lengthy hospitalization. 

I found BP about 8 months ago while I was recovering from a brain annurism and a stroke so I have been listening to the Podcats and reading from the blogs and the forums.I would try to concentrate on Fix and Flips as well as Wholesaling.