Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I'm a new real estate investor and I recently picked up Brandon's book "Rental Property Investing"..

As far as I know, Catskill doesn't have any real regulations on them.

HI Matt,You don't necessarily need to be a resident to purchase real estate in the US.

I would try not to tie up any of the principal in down payments.Personally, I had a family member do this same thing, but they used an investment portfolio as the collateral instead of real estate.If you play your cards right, this might be the only short-term money you ever need.Please let us know what you end up doing.

For those that qualify for conventional financing its another negotiation tool, for those that do not its a way to get into real estate but many do not understand what it is they are signing up for.Regarding it being good for an owner, again it goes back to the borrower, if I have a borrower with 800 credit and I control cashflow its far different than someone with 540 credit.

I am also San Diego based real estate investor,Thanks

If you spend the entire $300k restoring the property, then here is the end result:- deductible casualty loss of $50k- no current tax- the restored property has $0 basis and cannot be depreciated- when it is later sold, the entire sale price is taxableMechanics and reporting are tricky, and I would not recommend to DIY it, especially since my scenario is over-simplified, and your real scenario is likely to involve more gotchas.Thanks so much. 

We decided to invest into real estate in our early 30s.

I'd suggest connecting with a Real Estate Attorney, and going from there.