Hi @Leon Jamison,I can recommend my contractor. my project was $420K, 7months, funded through 203K. we went slightly over schedule (10months),mainly due to a few failed/ repeat inspections, but we were able ton finish under budget.TBH, Im actually doing a second multi family reno project in the heights, New York Ave with the same contractor beginning March 2025.Anyways, you're bound to have issues when working with any contractor.

You started off good with cost being paid in stages, but it sounds like you paid before you verified they actually hit their benchmarks.b.

Wife and I both have an 800 credit score and plenty of income with a 19% DTI ratio. 2) Do you recommend that as a first timer I actually do go with a higher down payment product as I learn?

This implies the higher ratio areas actually produce lower cash flow over long holds.- it does not forecast rent growth or appreciation into the calculation.Those are not areas i desire to invest.  

And are actually making a good career educating and assisting investors to maximize the benefit of the 1031 exchange.

I would highly recommend you create a Market Report in PriceLabs to see how similar properties nearby are actually performing.

Comparing your post to my experience thus far I feel I am in for a fairly robotic loan experience.I have yet to see the actual loan agreement, but I have requested this and will report back when i get a copy.  

Over the past few years, many groups have raised funds and acquired properties, promising investors impressive passive returns.But here’s the real question: how have these syndications actually performed?

Obviously, the rules will differ from state to state.The most successful buyers have trusted bidders with cashier’s checks in multiple denominations (for cash sales) and the actual buyers have field runners and people to monitor multiple prospective properties at a given time and check sales status for postponements due to BK, etc.This is the case in larger metro markets where many properties could go to sale but few do so.There are often better ways to acquire properties then auctions.

We actually tested the water as we wanted to verify the property was safe before renting it out to tenants.