i'd pick a market close by, or that you have a personal connection to, or that you visit often.chasing cash flow by itself can lead to negative outcomes - for example, these investors bought in supposed "cash flow" markets:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...hope this helps.

I personally think this is the direction booking sites need to go.

I havent worked with him personally but have received a good referral for him.

Quote from @Michael Challenger: I have no qualms with hard money lending, but I need to learn more about the process and structure to these for typical deals so that I am more comfortable and in a position to reduce my personal risk and risk to investors as much as possible.

And you can't legally dictate how much they carry for personal belongings. 

I personally use Bnbcalc: https://bnbcalc.com/?

I don't have a solution but I think a real estate attorney or a title attorney would be a good person to talk to.

What made you think this person had no experience whatsoever and didn't own their own home? 

Since the LTV on the hard money loan is high , I would personally purchase it using a bank statement loan at 85% LTV (15 percent down) and, as you mentioned, just use your cash for the rehab.

Referrals from local investors on BiggerPockets can be a great resource. https://www.biggerpockets.com/business/finder/agents@Mark Ainley sounds like a great person to link up with!