The article shows who they are and how they operate locally.Patrick,Here "was" my take on the situation earlier in the year when I heard hedge funds and private equities buying foreclosures.The hedge funds and private equities are gambling with OPM.

Pay someone who is sucessful in your chosen field, may need to be in a different area, a lot of sucessful people are much more inclined to help people if they are not training their competitors.

With your house paid off , you can sleep well at night , I dont gamble with my primary , if everything goes south , I still have a roof for the family .

Don't gamble with the money you can't afford to lose

Will you tend to be super picky with tenants, or be willing to take the first gamble that meets your qualifications (since they are all truly gambles anyway)?

If you want to gamble with your money, go to Las Vegas.

There is a difference between investing and gambling/speculating.

The 15 or so I've chosen to follow up on are in stable neighborhoods, appear to be in fairly good condition, and have tax appraisals between $70,000 and $145,000.

Marketed in a way that made it sound like it would be an honor to be 'chosen' as one of the few.  

Essentially gambling that the value of your leveraged assets is going to increase over time.