The other options you are playing with fire as using a HELOC that is paying interest is essentially buying with 100% financing.Having no skin in the game has always been a high risk strategy and people were able to get away with it the past few years due to the money supply and inflation but I would not use that as the measuring stick.

For those of you who’ve been in the short-term rental game for a while, what’s one lesson you wish you’d learned sooner?

Mentees need to step up their game and make the offer to those who can help them.

Give Memphis a look, tons of opportunity to do it yourself and turnkey providers that have been in the game for a long time.

As you get closer to investing, network through meetups and online communities to learn from others.

Check out other online guides available here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides3.

There are several great ones in Dallas, but I'll bet these days most want you to have some skin in the game, so no 100% financing and also financing of renovation costs. 

If you don't pay he gets the park back and your asset.That would put me at more ease, knowing that you have skin in the game, and are going to pay me.Gino

I plan on splitting this land into two 1.5 acre lots as there is enough road frontage, but I'm concerned that someone could show up and want to start drilling in the backyard.I think someone wanting to drill is unlikely for the following reasons:- the original owners are probably dead and the ownership is split between inheritance to multiple people- the lot is too small for them to mess with- there is only a single active well/pump within 30 miles from what I can see online.

Also from what I've read online breaking into the insurance side of things sounds like it requires cold calling and building relationships with those reps vs just registering property in database and waiting.