I would use a service such as vacationrentaldesk.com for this.A direct booking is no more risky than a booking through VRBO or Airbnb; they aren’t verifying identity, either.In fact, my own company has taken thousands of reservations over 19 years, and we don’t verify identity.  

Yes but rate aren't great.

If you are married and you aren't on title....you legally own that home.  

The financing is different however as you have to use non-recourse loans, which aren't as favorable terms as the conventional loans, but it still allows you to leverage to continually invest!  

The thing people aren't talking about is that it is up to the buyers sole discretion on what house they want to purchase, who they want to help them accomplish that purchase and if they are willing or able to compensate a buyers agent in the unlikely event the seller is not offering cooperative compensation to the buyers agent.

Adding teams/schools that aren't in a competitive system.

It only makes sense to buy the pro membership if you plan to go to BPCON and aren't a pro member already. 

Where the letters aren’t outright fraudulent and lies, they are misleading, with the person selling or giving the proof of funds letter to the unqualified wholesaler doing zero due diligence on the property and at best stating that, technically, funds could exist and or be set aside for the purchase of the property,The practice, when used this way is meant to mislead, and those who ask for, give out, or receive, proof of funds letters in this way are not welcome here on BiggerPockets.The right answer here is to qualify for a loan on the property personally, and show this to a seller, or to be straightforward with the seller that you are in no position to buy the property personally, but will be wholesaling it for them. 

I see a lot of people self-sacrifice, which I try to avoid along the journey to the top.If you aren't stuck on staying downtown Chicago, I'd consider finding a condo along the Blueline, but it would likely be in a smaller building (2-4 units. 

For illustration purposes the cheaper Delta fixtures most investors purchase at Home Depot or Lowes aren't sold at plumbing supply stores because Delta licenses these less expensive options exclusively to the big box stores (same is true for other manufacturers as well).