Few people get into REI and find out it's totally hands off.

english is a little off  a company or a MLO is not a member of NMLS  NMLW is the federal registration for state licensed MLO's or lending companies.. 

Learn to control your spending and pay off debt.

You can find these deals if you look hard, search the MLS and off market and network.

maybe you and your husband can trade off making trips there to build a network in person? 

Even with a week off for Christmas and New Years, there's no reason for this delay. 

We do have a tenant in ours but have closed off the pass through door.

Still can be very beneficial for a new investor but personally I think not as good as a service as they had with their exclusive listings where they had inspections already done, rent rolls available, and you can complete the entire offer/acceptance via their platform rather than being handed off to an agent. 

Whatever money they make off of securitization from the borrowers note is pure profit.

They see foreigners as one-off buyers so they're not too much concerned about building a relationship or their reputation in the eyes of somebody who doesn't live there for that matter.